FAQs

All Saffire grills have the same ceramic components. The difference between the classes is the hardware.

A Bronze Saffire comes with powder coated steel bands, hinge, and a cast iron top temperature control. Bronze Saffire carts are powder coated steel.

A Silver Saffire comes with 304 stainless steel bands, hinge and top temperature control. Silver carts come in 202 Stainless steel. Read about why 304 stainless steel is better than the rest here.

Platinum Saffire grills include a 304 stainless handle and the Platinum carts are 304 stainless steel with 304 stainless steel side shelves. Sapphire Blue Saffire grills come exclusively in Platinum Class.

Some people will soak wood in water for 2+ hours before putting it in their grill and lighting the charcoal, but why do that? With our patented Smokin’ Chip Feeder, you can easily add wood chips at any point during a cook. This saves on wood usage, and can save you if you forgot about the wood before you lit the grill!

This is your Efficiency Plate. Peel the white cover off your Efficiency Plate and put it below your firebox at the very bottom of your Saffire grill, feet down. The air between the plate and the bottom of your Saffire creates a buffer that helps your grill hold heat for long cooks better than any other kamado on the market!

Please review the warranty here.

Saffire offers a 1 year warranty on wood tables for manufacturer’s defects that inhibit the function of the table. Cosmetic defects are not under warranty.

We have introduced different Saffire models over the years. Here’s a quick rundown on them:

• 2008 – The first Saffire was the SG22, a Large model.
• 2010 – Two years later we came out with the SG18 Large model, which replaced the SG22.
• 2014 – We started selling our modern Large grill, the SGUS19. This is also when we introduced a larger model for the first time: our XL grill, the SGUS23.
• 2016 – We began selling the SGUS15, our Medium grill.
• 2018 – We began selling the SGUS13, our Small/Portable grill.

Here is how to tell which model you own:

• SG22 and SG18 – These are the oldest Saffires, and are virtually indistinguishable from one another. You know you have one of these model grills if the port on the front of your grill is oval/rectangular. The cap will be oval, and you will pull to remove it. The Smokin’ Chip Feeder port/hole in the grill itself will be rectangular.
• SGUS19 – If the Smokin’ Chip Feeder port on the front of your grill is a circle (you twist the cap to remove it) and the inside diameter of your grill measures 18 3/4″ or greater, you have an SGUS19.
• SGUS23 – This grill has an inside diameter of approximately 23″.
• SGUS15 – This grill has an inside diameter of approximately 15″.
• SGUS13 – This grill has an inside diameter of approximately 13″.

Natural Lump Charcoal is the best. Natural lump charcoal burns cleanly with very little ash production. As its name suggests it is all natural wood turned into charcoal. Many types of briquettes are composed more of coal (fossil fuel, out of the ground) than natural wood species. See more info on charcoal here.

You can add several wood types to your grill to add smoked flavor. Here is a list to get you started:

• Apple — Poultry and Pork
• Cherry — Poultry and Pork
• Hickory — Poultry and Pork
• Oak — Beef
• Olive — Beef
• Mesquite — Beef

For more information, see this page.

Our Charcoal Basket and Ash Pan are a great combo. Why? The basket makes it super easy to shake the ash off your charcoal before each cook. It takes less than five seconds to do. The pan holds a ton of ash, but when it starts to get full it’s really easy to take out and dump the ash into a heat resistant receptacle.

(Never dump hot ash, please! Wait at least 24 hours after your last cook for the ash to fully cool.)

There are a multiple key differences between baking in the oven that sits in your kitchen and baking in your Saffire.

1. Baking in your kitchen oven heats up your kitchen, while baking in your Saffire doesn’t. During the hot summer months, baking in the kitchen can add so much heat to your home that it takes more than an hour for the air to catch up! Not so with your Saffire! Walking in and out of the house while baking adds very little extra heat to the house. Plus, then you have respite in the cool house in between checking your brownies to see if they’re done. It’s much better for the guests and the cook.
2. Your regular oven cooks with a dry heat; Saffire retains moisture. The oven in your kitchen dries out your food, and requires you to use more liquids than when baking in your Saffire. This is more noticeable the longer the bake time (1+ hours). Your Saffire, on the other hand, retains moisture pretty well. Think about how much a kitchen oven dries out the turkey, and then how moist a turkey baked/smoked in your Saffire is!
3. Baking in your Saffire may imbue your food with a slight smoked flavor, unlike your kitchen oven. This depends on the food being baked. Grains like bread, noodles and rice don’t absorb much smoke flavor at all. On the other hand, some foods that sit in a lot of liquid in a pan or pot may absorb some of that smoke flavor. Sometimes this makes the meal amazing (think smoked Mac and Cheese, chicken casserole, and so many more), and other times you don’t want that kind of flavor at all (think dill sauce dip). If you want to avoid a smoky flavor in the foods that naturally absorb it, keep a good lid on it while baking in your Saffire. You will find you rarely need, or want, to use a lid in your Saffire.
4. Baking in your regular oven uses a digital thermometer and heat regulator to maintain the set temperature; the Saffire is almost set-and-forget without any technology, but not quite. If you want to set the temperature on your Saffire and never needing to touch it after that, we encourage you to purchase one of our temperature control units.