Next Level Chef competitor and Food Network Pitmasters star Matt Groark made a name for himself long before he stepped into people’s lives through the television screen. He has built a reputation for his culinary prowess while grilling and barbecuing for his family and vegetarian wife on his GroarkBoysBBQ social media channels. 

Cooking barbecue isn’t his only contribution to society, though. He spends his days molding the minds of the next generation as he approaches twenty years of being a schoolteacher. From physical education to culinary arts, Matt has invested in his students with the same passion he invests in his social media followers. 

Groark, as he is known by his friends, is a skilled pitmaster with many years of experience. Perhaps most importantly, he is a teacher at heart. His signature pickle-glazed ribs are not only delicious, but they were so good that he used this recipe to win the competition barbecue challenge on Pitmasters, where he competed against world-class chefs and wowed award-winning judges. 

In this video, Groark shares all of the secrets to his pickle-glazed ribs with the Thermoworks team and uses one of the very first Thermapen® NANO models to make it into the hands of a pitmaster. If you look closely, you might notice a couple of minuscule differences in this pre-production model. Regardless, Matt is an incredible pitmaster, a wonderful teacher, and a good friend to anybody who wants to learn. We hope you watch and enjoy his pickle-glazed ribs masterclass, and we encourage you to make this recipe at home on the next rack of ribs you put on the smoker! If you would like to pre-order your own Thermapen NANO like the one featured in the video, click here to be first on the list!