PEPPER MONKEY BBQ

At a glance (everything the results say about this team, in numbers)

Power ranking

#665

of 6,413 rated · rankings

Rating

1646

peak 1646 · rated over 24 contests ⓘ

Best runs

straight top-10s

Contests

in the data

First seen

2013-05-03

latest 2015-09-04

Best ToY finish

#143

Master 2013

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

14 podiums

Overall top-10s

of 24 contests

Avg finish

top 25%

overall standings

Best overall

680.5028 / 720

Master · Eastern Carolina BBQ ThrowDown

Perfect 180s

Current form

663.35 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 651.86 (+11.49)

Walk rate

92%

contests with a top-10 call

Top-10 streak

best run (overall)

Best single call

177.1428

Brisket · Eastern Carolina BBQ Throw Down

Consistency

±13.10

std dev of Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Brisket

avg 164.76 · weakest Chicken (161.21)

Road miles

3,695

mi across 24 mapped stops · furthest 1219 mi

Schedule strength

15%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1521)

Master avg

651.86 / 720

24 Master contests · 0 GCs

⚔ Compare with another team

Storylines (12 found in this team's record)

Each card leads with the number that made it a story — read straight out of their results, no editorialising.

On the rise

+26 rating points in a year

Their power rating has climbed 26 points across 5 contests since 2014-09-26 — from 1620 up to 1646.

5 contests since 2014-09-26
now 1646

Happy hunting ground

Top 18% average finish here

Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival is their spot: an average finish in the top 18% across 2 visits.

2 visits
best finish 3rd
average top 18%

They almost always walk

92% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 22 of 24 contests

A top-10 category call in 92% of their 24 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

680.5028 career-best overall

94.5% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 680.5028 at Eastern Carolina BBQ ThrowDown — 94.5% of a perfect 720.

Master
2014-10-10

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

FIRE FIGHTING BBQ TEAM has finished one call ahead of PEPPER MONKEY BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

11–2 behind in the head-to-head

3 EYZ BBQ ahead in 85% of their meetings

3 EYZ BBQ has come out ahead in 11 of their 13 shared contests.

A strong matchup

12–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of ROCKIN ROBYNS BBQ in 12 of their 12 shared contests.

Brisket nemesis

8 of 13 shared brisket entries lost

3 EYZ BBQ ahead 62% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, 3 EYZ BBQ has out-cooked them in 8 of 13 shared brisket entries.

Announced themselves early

3rd at their very first contest

Finished 3 of 55 at their very first tracked contest, Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival (2013-05-03).

2013-05-03
55-team field

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

CHECKERED PIG has landed one call behind them 2 times.

The long haul

3,695 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 3,695 miles across 24 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 1,219 miles to City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival.

24 mapped stops
furthest 1,219 mi

The metronome

±1.82% swing around their own average

Their overall lands within ±1.82% of a perfect score of their own average — whatever the field, you know roughly what they'll turn in.

averages 90.5% of a perfect score
24 contests

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The nearest teams in the power rankings, with a different reason on each card — six teams on one rating are rarely on it for the same reason. Rating decides who makes the list; where teams tie on it, the ones this team has actually cooked against come first, then teams at a similar point in their own career. KCBS doesn’t publish where a team is from, so nothing here is inferred from geography.

SMOKE IN THE MOUNTAINS

#670 of the rated field

1646 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 28
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 36%
Peak: 1646

No shared contest yet.

This is the highest they've ever been rated, 28 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.

rated over 28 contests
last seen 2017-08-18

⚔ Head-to-head

BOOTIES BBQ

#663 of the rated field

1646 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 39
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 49%
Peak: 1648

No shared contest yet.

A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 39 contests to 24.

rated over 29 contests
last seen 2024-10-17

⚔ Head-to-head

iQue

#664 of the rated field

1646 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 34
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 41%
Peak: 1658

No shared contest yet.

34 contests and no Grand Championship yet — a rating made of 41% top-10 finishes rather than wins.

rated over 33 contests
last seen 2025-08-02

⚔ Head-to-head

Say My Name BBQ

#666 of the rated field

1646 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 41
GCs: 1
Top-10s: 37%
Peak: 1666

No shared contest yet.

They turned up 10 years after PEPPER MONKEY BBQ did, first appearing in 2023.

rated over 37 contests
last seen 2026-08-15

⚔ Head-to-head

DEAD BIRD BBQ

#661 of the rated field

1646 ▲ 0 power rating

Contests: 39
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 31%
Peak: 1666

No shared contest yet.

Level with PEPPER MONKEY BBQ on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 38 contests
last seen 2022-05-20

⚔ Head-to-head

PORKERSTARS

#668 of the rated field

1646 ▼ 0 power rating

Contests: 39
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 28%
Peak: 1656

No shared contest yet.

A longer road to the same neighbourhood — 39 contests to 24.

rated over 39 contests
last seen 2022-10-28

⚔ Head-to-head

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
3 EYZ BBQ	13	2	11	15%	⚔ compare
ROCKIN ROBYNS BBQ	12	12	0	100%	⚔ compare
4:20 Q	12	4	8	33%	⚔ compare
APORKALYPSE NOW	12	4	8	33%	⚔ compare
PAVONE BROTHERS BBQ	11	6	5	55%	⚔ compare
CHIX, SWINE & BOVINE BBQ	11	3	8	27%	⚔ compare
OLD VIRGINIA SMOKE	9	6	3	67%	⚔ compare
RED WAX BBQ	9	6	3	67%	⚔ compare
BIG BLOCK BBQ	9	6	3	67%	⚔ compare
FIRE FIGHTING BBQ TEAM	9	3	6	33%	⚔ compare
LIFE IS GOOD BUT BBQ IS BETTER	8	7	1	88%	⚔ compare
JD'S SMOKIN MISFITS	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
HOG-IT-UP BBQ	8	5	3	63%	⚔ compare
DEGUELLO BBQ	8	4	4	50%	⚔ compare
LYIN' PIGS	7	7	0	100%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Wins	Podiums	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	24	6	1	1	173.1430	148.4684	161.21	top 44%
Pork Ribs	24	11	1	3	176.0116	145.7142	162.12	top 35%
Pork	24	11	1	4	172.0000	152.5484	163.77	top 31%
Brisket	24	11	3	6	177.1428	150.8570	164.76	top 26%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By state / province

Where	Contests	Avg finish
MD	8	top 24%
VA	7	top 24%
PA	3	top 22%
NC	2	top 21%
DE	2	top 28%
TX	1	top 29%
WV	1	top 43%

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	6	0	top 36%
Large (40+)	18	0	top 21%

Contest-by-contest record (recurring contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Keystone Classic Barbeque	2	11	top 20%	2014-10-03
Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2	13	top 47%	2014-08-22
BBQ Jamboree	2	9	top 25%	2014-05-09
Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival	2	3	top 18%	2014-05-02

The story so far (15 numbers that describe this team)

On the trail 2.3 yrs 2013-05-03 → 2015-09-04

Busiest season 2013 13 contests

Contests a season 8 across 3 seasons in the data

Cooks most in MD 8 of 24 contests · 7 states/provinces in all

Contests visited 20 4 of them cooked more than once

Most-entered meat Chicken 24 entries · 1 win · 6 calls

Strongest meat Brisket averages 164.76 · weakest Chicken (161.21)

Walk rate 92% a top-10 call in 22 of 24 contests

Overall top-10 rate 50% 12 of 24 contests

Best top-10 run 3 straight contests

Master average 651.86 out of 720 · 24 contests · 0 GCs

Opponents faced 612 924–274 across every shared overall standing

Road miles 3,695 24 mapped stops · furthest 1,219 mi

Schedule strength 1521 average field rating faced — tougher than 15% of rated contests

Power rating 1646 peak 1646 · #665 of 6,413 rated

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

2013
May 3 First tracked contest Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival
May 3 First call Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival
May 3 First category win (Chicken) Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival
May 3 First overall top-10 Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival
May 3 First overall podium Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival
May 3 First overall past 90% of a perfect score666.2852 Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival
Sep 6 10th tracked contest Pickin' in the Panhandle
Oct 11 Career-best single call (Brisket)177.1428 Eastern Carolina BBQ Throw Down
2014
Oct 10 Career-best overall score680.5028 Eastern Carolina BBQ ThrowDown
2015
Sep 4 Peak power rating (1646) City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival
Sep 4 Most recent contest City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+14.9	Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival	2013-05-03
+13.7	12th Annual Maryland State BBQ Bash	2013-08-09
+11.2	Autumnfest	2013-10-18
+10.7	Middletown BBQ Cook Off	2013-05-17
+10.2	Eastern Carolina BBQ ThrowDown	2014-10-10

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-1.5	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2014-08-22
-0.6	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour	2013-08-16

Category scores over time

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Team of the Year rank by season

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Category wins	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2015	1	0	0	100%	top 29%	91.7%	91.7%
2014	10	6	3	90%	top 23%	94.5%	90.9%
2013	13	6	3	92%	top 26%	93.6%	90.1%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2015-09-04	City of Bedford Blues & BBQ Festival Bedford, TX	20 / 70 (660.5368)	15 (168.5484)	10 (169.7028)	16 (168.5828)	62 (153.7028)
2014-10-17	Shenandoah Valley BBQ Fest Woodstock, VA	5 / 40 (665.6000)	17 (162.8000)	9 (167.4400)	23 (161.0972)	1 (174.2628)
2014-10-10	Eastern Carolina BBQ ThrowDown Rocky Mount, NC	4 / 53 (680.5028)	15 (167.9772)	2 (176.0116)	6 (170.8456)	20 (165.6684)
2014-10-03	Keystone Classic Barbeque Harrisburg, PA	11 / 53 (659.3028)	24 (161.1200)	23 (162.2628)	7 (170.8228)	11 (165.0972)
2014-09-26	Lehigh Valley QueFest Allentown, PA	8 / 32 (650.7996)	17 (160.0228)	23 (150.8112)	1 (169.1084)	2 (170.8572)
2014-08-22	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Laurel, MD	13 / 29 (646.1136)	22 (156.5140)	3 (167.9656)	7 (161.6684)	15 (159.9656)
2014-08-08	MD State BBQ Bash, Presented by Mars Super Markets Bel Air, MD	10 / 54 (654.2972)	14 (165.1428)	7 (167.4172)	28 (157.1772)	8 (164.5600)
2014-08-01	Southern Maryland Brew & BBQ Leonardtown, MD	9 / 59 (660.4456)	17 (164.5600)	24 (162.2400)	17 (162.8228)	6 (170.8228)
2014-05-09	BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA	9 / 64 (649.6912)	49 (150.8800)	1 (173.1428)	7 (167.4056)	15 (158.2628)
2014-05-02	Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival Annapolis, MD	18 / 59 (652.4912)	38 (154.8228)	4 (169.6800)	26 (161.6684)	12 (166.3200)
2014-04-11	Delaware's Triple Threat BBQ Festival at the Fair Harrington, DE	44 / 109 (627.8624)	87 (148.4684)	33 (159.4056)	68 (152.5484)	11 (167.4400)
2013-10-18	Autumnfest Woodstock, VA	4 / 40 (662.8572)	14 (162.2628)	23 (154.8000)	2 (171.4400)	1 (174.3544)
2013-10-11	Eastern Carolina BBQ Throw Down Rocky Mount, NC	19 / 55 (650.7428)	45 (155.3484)	33 (157.1316)	30 (161.1200)	1 (177.1428)
2013-10-04	Keystone Classic Barbeque Harrisburg, PA	11 / 55 (646.7768)	35 (154.7884)	7 (165.7028)	22 (158.8456)	5 (167.4400)
2013-09-06	Pickin' in the Panhandle Inwood, WV	16 / 37 (643.3712)	9 (166.2284)	29 (154.2628)	8 (169.1772)	26 (153.7028)
2013-08-23	Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival Harrisonburg, VA	5 / 28 (635.3484)	9 (161.1200)	21 (149.1200)	9 (158.8456)	4 (166.2628)
2013-08-16	Sam's Club National BBQ Tour Laurel, MD	14 / 29 (655.8396)	8 (166.8228)	9 (166.2284)	18 (159.9428)	15 (162.8456)
2013-08-09	12th Annual Maryland State BBQ Bash Bel Air, MD	3 / 60 (673.6000)	4 (171.9656)	17 (165.1200)	15 (164.5372)	3 (171.9772)
2013-07-19	Que & Cruz Louisa, VA	19 / 45 (639.8744)	22 (160.5484)	23 (157.1088)	27 (157.0628)	7 (165.1544)
2013-06-21	BBQ, Bands & Brews Palmyra, VA	9 / 25 (648.5714)	20 (157.1426)	15 (157.7142)	10 (161.7144)	2 (172.0002)
2013-06-14	Central MD Swinetastic BBQ Festival Frederick, MD	14 / 63 (649.7134)	39 (157.1424)	5 (169.7142)	23 (161.7140)	21 (161.1428)
2013-05-17	Middletown BBQ Cook Off Middletown, DE	9 / 56 (640.5710)	8 (164.5714)	22 (156.5712)	3 (168.5714)	34 (150.8570)
2013-05-10	BBQ Jamboree Fredericksburg, VA	22 / 60 (623.4282)	20 (157.1426)	43 (145.7142)	11 (161.7142)	13 (158.8572)
2013-05-03	Naptown barBAYq Contest & Music Festival Annapolis, MD	3 / 55 (666.2852)	1 (173.1430)	6 (165.7140)	2 (172.0000)	24 (155.4282)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)

Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2015 ↗	Master	#2000 (85 pts)	#1935 (110 pts)	#1715 (135 pts)	#1985 (105 pts)	#2214 (60 pts)
2014 ↗	Master	#205 (1481 pts)	#395 (946 pts)	#145 (1666 pts)	#202 (1406 pts)	#152 (1666 pts)
2013 ↗	Master	#143 (1679 pts)	#142 (1509 pts)	#223 (1244 pts)	#109 (1659 pts)	#79 (2002 pts)