FortisBC Connect to Gas Program Update – Outdoor Appliance Top-up

by | Jun 25, 2020 | Consumer News, Member News

With summer in full swing, many customers may be prioritizing outdoor renovations over space heating and water heater upgrades. To help customers with undertaking outdoor renovations projects, while also getting them to think about space heating and water heating upgrades, FortisBC is introducing an additional $300 rebate offer for outdoor appliances under the Connect to Gas program effective July 1, 2020.

Who is eligible?

  • Customers who replace their old oil, wood or propane primary space heating system with an eligible ENERGY STAR® high-efficiency natural gas furnace, boiler or combination heating and hot water system, and also install a natural gas outdoor appliance (BBQ, patio heater, outdoor fireplace or fire pit) are now eligible for up to $2,000 in rebates.
  • Customers whose homes are already connected to natural gas, can now receive up to $1,400 in rebates when they install a direct vent wall furnace, water heater and a natural gas outdoor appliance (BBQ, patio heater, outdoor fireplace or fire pit).

Increased contractor incentives

Also effective July 1, contractors who take part in the Connect to Gas program can receive up to $175 in incentives: $100 for an eligible space heating upgrade, $150 for an eligible space and water heating upgrade and an additional $25 incentive for an outdoor appliance.
[content_control]
For any questions about the program, please visit the FortisBC Connect to Gas website page, call 1-877-740-0055, or email rebates@fortisbc.com.
[/content_control]

The #WhyIGrill Movement

The #WhyIGrill Movement

by | Jun 3, 2019 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

Maybe you grill to relax. Your backyard is your oasis, your respite, your happy place. The flame is your focal point. Maybe you grill for nostalgia. Backyard barbecues make up your happiest memories. Your grill is your time machine to your best moments growing up. Maybe you grill to step it up. You’re in your new home. You’re starting a new family. Your grill tells the world your adulting game is lit. Or maybe, just maybe, you grill for the sheer joy of cooking. The sizzle on the grates, the smell rising to the sky, the juices dripping on the coals. No matter the reason, we love that you love our favorite pastime.

Whether for the flavour, for fun, to compete, to impress, or maybe even for nostalgia’s sake, there are endless reasons to grill and it is time to dig deeper to fully understand these reasons.

Grilling excitement is spreading and the #WhyIGrill campaign taps into that enthusiasm. Whether the casual cook or the celebrated competitor, we look forward to learning everyone’s reasons for grilling.

To join the movement visit WhyIGrill.org. This online hub showcases how and why grilling is becoming a year-round lifestyle choice. You’ll find recipes, including some from top pitmasters, tips and tricks, interactive social media feed and current happenings.

In addition, follow HPBAC on social media throughout the season and share on social media with the “#WhyIGrill” campaign hashtag.

Visit WhyIGrill.org to find out more information about this exciting initiative… and don’t forget to tell the world what fires you up by sharing your story on social with #WhyIGrill.

Recipes from House of BBQ Experts

Recipes from House of BBQ Experts

by | Jun 3, 2019 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

House of BBQ Experts is a Montreal, Quebec-based company that offers BBQ products, knowledge, support and more. Max and JP Lavoie, two young visionaries from the Quebec City area, cofounded the company.

Their motto? Changing the world, one barbecue at a time.

They generously shared three recipes with HPBAC to demonstrate how best to use their ingenious, hand-crafted All-In-1 tool.

The All-in-1 merges every type of cooking into one. The door will let you get a real flame over your cheese, melting it to perfection on your pizza, or have a quick look at your ribs on the first shelf of your smoker. Nothing is better than 2 chickens slowly grilled over live fire… with or without the lid. Made from 100% 304 stainless steel, you can use it like a tandoor grill and cook your Naan directly on the inside walls. It’s perfect for churrasco, asado and santa style BBQ.

Rotisserie Chickens

Servings: 8-12Prep time: 30 minutes
Marinating time: 1 hour
Barbecue Temp: 200°C (400°F)

Ingredients
Preparation

Preheat the grill using only the back burner. Rub the inside and outside of the chickens with the spices. Skewer the chickens back to back and tightly squeeze them together.  Tie the end of the legs using stainless steel pins. Set a drip pan under the chickens. Cook for approximately one hour, until the meat easily comes off the bone. Note for cooking with coals: put the coals under the chickens. Make sure that the rod turns constantly so the chickens do not burn. Ten minutes before the end of cooking, baste the chickens with the preferred sauce

Cold-Smoked Salmon

Prep time: 10 minutes
Marinating time: 36 hours
Max smoker temp: 30°C (85°F)
Smoking time: 4-12 hrs

Ingredients
  • Maple wood pellets
  • 2 fresh salmon fillets with skin 675 g (1-1/2 lb) each
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp bourbon
  • 300 g (1 cup) coarse salt
  • 75 g (1/2 cup) maple sugar
  • 110 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
  • 40 g (1/2 cup) Montreal spice
Preparation

Put the fillets in a large pyrex plate, skin side down. Prepare the dry rub: mix all ingredients in a bowl. Coat the fillets evenly with the mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. Remove excess spice rub with your fingers then put the fillets in a resealable large bag. Drizzle with maple syrup and bourbon. Refrigerate for 12 hours. Fill half the smoker box with the pellets. Burn the pellets for 2 minutes before extinguishing the flame. Set the box as far as possible from where the fillets will go. Set the salmon on the grill then quickly close the lid. Cold smoke the salmon for 4 to 12 hours. Let the salmon rest in the refrigerator for 24 hours before. Cut in slices and serve.

Nana Cécile’s Pizza

Servings: 2 x 20 cm (8”) pizzas
Prep time: 5 minutes
Barbecue temp: max
Cooking time: 6 mins/pizza

Ingredients
  • 1 pizza dough recipe
  • 180 ml (3/4 cup) pizza sauce
  • 4 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 buffalo mozzarella ball, sliced
Preparation

Set a pizza pan on the grill. Preheat for indirect cooking method. Cut the dough in half and roll out the dough into 2 rounds of 20cm (8”) diameter. Cook the dough.Spread the tomato sauce on the crust. Sprinkle with cheese and herbs. Season to taste with pepper. Cook the pizza for 1 to 2 minutes rotating it once so cheese melts uniformly. Cut the pizza in slices and serve.

Being Thankful For Your Barbecue

Being Thankful For Your Barbecue

by | Nov 6, 2018 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection and being grateful. It’s the one holiday we gather and celebrate exclusively with food, with the turkey as the main attraction. Nothing is more important than how the turkey turns out at a Thanksgiving dinner, so the pressure is on to live up to everyone’s expectations. So instead of preparing a turkey the traditional way (in the oven) like everyone else, consider using your trusted barbecue for a guaranteed positive impression on your guests.

The stove, oven and microwave are generally the go-to appliances for preparing a Thanksgiving dinner; however, they can make your kitchen feel like a sauna once your oven is cranked to 475 degrees and all burners on the stove are raging. But by cooking the turkey outside and letting your grill do the heavy lifting, it frees up your oven for other tasks and provides a tasty alternative to the traditional oven-roasted turkey, much to the delight of your guests.

There are countless recipes to prepare a scrumptious turkey on a gas, charcoal or pellet barbecue, and you can achieve terrific results with a ceramic (or Kamado) grill or a smoker.  Each method will give your turkey a distinct, delicious flavour, making it a meal to remember. Check out the following links to recipes and cooking instructions on how to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey outside.

 

Kamado
Gas
Charcoal
Smoker
Grilling Beyond the Main Course

Grilling Beyond the Main Course

by | May 31, 2018 | Grilling & Outdoor Living, HPBAC Blog

With spring here andsummer around the corner, we begin to enjoy the pleasures that come with enjoying more of our outdoor spaces for the season. Whether quietly enjoying breakfast with a view, soaking up some sun over lunch, or hosting friends and family evening apps, outdoor entertaining is made simpler and more creative by exploring how to use our grill for beyond the main course!

Internationally acclaimed chef Andreas Rummel’s recent book Finger Food From The BBQ and Grill is the place to start! Published in collaboration with Napoleon Grills, and with chapter titles such as With Your Hands, On a Stick, On a Spoon, In a Roll, and With Your Fingers, you can start to guess how diverse the recipes in this book are. These amazingly creative finger food recipes take their inspiration from the vibrant street food scene and present ideas for rolls, wraps, waffles, gyros, quesadilla, hotdogs, ribs, kebabs, gyozas, tataki, wings, pancakes, pulled meats, toasted sandwiches and bruschetta, as well as salads, sauces and dips to accompany these dishes.

The recipes can make ideal starters, small snacks or form part of a multi-course menu. Each one shows how long it takes to prepare and there is a star system indicating the level of difficulty. Many recipes are easy, some are more sophisticated, but with the help of numerous tips and a little practice you will turn out success every time.

Chef Rummel, a celebrity speaker and guest chef at the 2018 Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo in Nashville Tennessee, graciously provided two recipes, as a preview of those available in his book.

 

Coppa Baskets with Melon

Makes 12
Cooking Time: 30 Minutes
Difficulty: 1 of 3 stars

Ingredients
  • 12 thin slices coppa
  • 1 cantaloupe melon
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 8 mint leaves
Preparation

Make 12 balls out of aluminum foil with a diameter of about 4 cm. Cover with a coppa to create the shape of a small bowl. Place the balls with the coppa in the barbecue and cook indirectly for 45 minutes at about 150°C (preferably on the warming rack). This will dry out the coppa and make it crispy. In the meantime, peel and de-seed the mellon. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the flesh into fine strips. Mix the honey with the lemon juice and marinate the melon in mixture for 20 minutes. Cut the mint leaves into fine strips. Take the coppa out of the barbecue and leave it to cool. Arrange uniform amounts of melon strips inside the coppa bowls and sprinkle with the mint.­­­­

Mozzarella Sticks

Makes 8-12
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes
Difficulty: 1 of 3 stars

Ingredients
  • 4 slices toasting bread
  • 1-2 mozzarella cylinders, very cold
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper ­­­­(or Thai Seven Spice seasoning)
  • 4 bacon slices
  • 100ml barbecue sauce
Preparation

Cut the crust off the bread and roll the bread slices out flat with a rolling pin. Cut the cheese into four strips, lightly season with the cayenne pepper and roll tightly inside the bread. Gently flatten the bacon strips on a chopping board and wind one tightly around each of the bread and cheese rolls. Cook the sticks indirectly o­­­­n the barbecue with medium heat, turning several times, until the bacon is crispy. Finally, glaze the bacon with the sauce and cook for another 5 minutes with the lid open. Cut the mozzarella sticks into bite-sized pieces and serve.