What it takes to walk...

71-South

71-South

is Blowin Smoke!
Joined
May 2, 2008
Location
Harrison...
One of the questions I've been itching to ask is "What score does it take to walk?" I know that's an impossible question to ask as all contest are different - different judges, different conditions, different teams, blah blah blah, but I wanted to know anyway, damn it.

So I was bored and I can't practice BBQ at 11:30 p.m. on a Monday night, so I used bbqscores.com to gather the top 10 scores (Overall, plus the 4 main categories) for the recent contests somewhere near where I live. Basically, they're the contests I could have traveled to in the last couple of months. I stuck close to home to avoid regional variations in average scores (as if that would make the numbers valid.)

I only found 3 contests that fit the bill (St. James, Bates County, and Harrison.) I don't know whether that's all that bbqscores.com has or if I just don't know how to find more.

I know, I know, I know that the math isn't a true representation of what it would take at any given contest, but it's interesting nonetheless. I'm not enough of a math genius to say whether or not the numbers will be more valid with more contests, or just more precise (but not accurate) guesses, but it gives me something to look at. :)

So, without further adieu...

AvgTopTen.gif


Thoughts? For you veterans, does that look about right?

-Bret
 
That may be about right for your region. For the NE/Mid-Atlantic, the scores are usually a bit lower. The goal we have is to score 160 in every category (and 640 overall). That usually gets you in the top 10 for each category and overall here. Low 170s can and does win a category often in my region. We were able to reach our goal for every category plus overall with the exception of ribs. Ribs is the focus this off season.

9 contest average:
Overall -- 650.9953
Chicken -- 167.9364
Ribs -- 156.0521
Pork -- 162.3910
Brisket -- 164.6158
 
Mid-Atlantic over nine contests (with a few klunkers in each category)


Category Calls Avg. Score
Overall 1 638.0770
Chicken 2 159.6583
Ribs 1 157.8857
Pork 4 163.0894
Brisket 1 157.4436
 
Scores get high in our area, For Category calls in our area your scores better be in the low 170's for a top 10 and above 175 for a top 5.

At T.I. this year a 170.000 in a category resulted in

Chicken 26th place
Ribs 27th place
Pork 19th place
Brisket 23rd place
 
All 8's used to get walks all the time. 8-8-8 from each judges comes to about 161 or so. This year in GA a 161 put you in the middle to bottom of the field. a 170 might not walk. 178+ to win a category. 172 didnt walk most weekends in chicken. a 172. think about that.
 
It would be cool if BBQScores.com tracked this since they have all the necessary data. I just copied and pasted to put it into Excel.
 
Here's our average scores over 18 contests up here in NEBS land. Out of those 18 contests 14 of them we were top 5, out of the those 14, 9 were top 3. We had 4 RGC's and 2 GC's. The scores are a lot lower here in the Northeast!!!!

Overall - 659.3325
Chix - 164.5314
Ribs - 164.8590
Pork - 162.5244
Brisket - 167.3860
 
I have gotten a 172.5714 in chicken up here in Iowa and not walked or got name called when calling top 10.
 
Not to Hi-jack, but why are the mid-atlantic/NE averages lower? Obviously judges play into the equation, but they all take the same class, right?
 
Podge said:
Some might say it takes "pure luck" to walk.
Click to expand...

Meat cooked well, with good flavor, but not enough of anything to offend can create a lot of luck:wink:

PS Did the marketing guy for your butcher shop quit?
 
I am with Smokin' Hoggz in that the scores are much lower in the NE. Our averages over 8 contests were:
Overall 634.639
Chicken 163.2866
Ribs 156.6357
Pork 164.1141
Brisket 150.8199
We finished with only A RGC and 2 1st place calls. We do know our faults lie in Brisket and Ribs and are working to correct them. They were our strong categories in 2012 so go figure
 
71-South said:
It would be cool if BBQScores.com tracked this since they have all the necessary data. I just copied and pasted to put it into Excel.
Click to expand...

While they don't track averages by place (or for calls), they do track regional averages. I assume this to be the mean of all contests in the Region.

New England
Overall -- 609.4445
Chicken -- 159.5364
Ribs -- 157.4625
Pork -- 159.2391
Brisket -- 155.6126

Mid Atlantic
Overall -- 625.1274
Chicken -- 158.6512
Ribs -- 156.0755
Pork -- 157.4106
Brisket -- 154.5908

South
Overall -- 649.2621
Chicken -- 164.2817
Ribs -- 162.4429
Pork -- 163.4460
Brisket -- 161.7308

Midwest
Overall -- 640.6377
Chicken -- 161.4961
Ribs -- 160.0705
Pork -- 161.4243
Brisket -- 158.6265

Southwest
Overall -- 631.3981
Chicken -- 159.9071
Ribs -- 158.1689
Pork -- 159.1174
Brisket -- 156.2276

West
Overall -- 631.4176
Chicken -- 160.5247
Ribs -- 159.0326
Pork -- 160.5949
Brisket -- 156.5469

Outside US
Overall -- 607.9705
Chicken -- 154.2088
Ribs -- 158.3954
Pork -- 154.6968
Brisket -- 154.3689
 
ShencoSmoke said:
Not to Hi-jack, but why are the mid-atlantic/NE averages lower? Obviously judges play into the equation, but they all take the same class, right?
Click to expand...

I think 'judges' is the only answer.

Our two highest scores this year were for the American Royal Invitational (39th with a 673) and the Open (19th with a 678 ). Same food we cook back home but got much higher scores in KC. At home, 6 top 10s in 7 contests in region with an average score of 644.
 
I talked to a team from New Hampshire while at the Sam's nationals, and I was blown away by the low scores you NEBS teams get!!.. I honestly think the judges up that way may not know what real, good BBQ is, because all you boys can certainly cook!
 
Greg, thanks for posting the info about BBQScores.com I didn't realize they had that detail. Here is where the Checkered Flag 500 BBQ (we too are in the northeast) team stands with one comp to go:



Calls Overall 652.5909 10 Chicken 161.0743
4 Ribs 163.9992 8 Pork 166.7156 9 Brisket 160.8017 6
 
Realistically I'd like minimum of four 170s. I probably wont win a category with that but over the course of the year chances are good for a GC if you can average that around here.
 
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