Grilling with Saffire
How to Cook Like a Champion

1. Remove the Cooking Grid. (You can hang the grid on the Side Shelf Tool Hooks while you light the fire.)
2. Remove excess ash.
   • If you have a Charcoal Basket, just give the Charcoal Basket a shake to knock excess ash down into the Ash Pan. This helps maintain better air flow for easier starting. Then any remaining charcoal is good to use again.
   • For grills without a Charcoal Basket, stir the charcoal around with your Ash Cleaning Tool. This will knock the ash down through the Cast Iron Fire Grate, where it can be removed through the bottom vent/ash door.
3. Add charcoal as needed.
   • If you have a traditional ceramic Firebox, pour lump charcoal into the Firebox, on top of the Cast Iron Fire Grate, until it covers the series of round holes in the Firebox. When you want to cook or smoke for more than three hours, you can fill it to the top of the Firebox instead.
   • For grills with Saffire’s Crucible Firebox, you can fill the Charcoal Basket all the way up, or load the Crucible’s Fire Grate with three inches of charcoal. (Remember to leave a space between the charcoal and the firebox, so air can reach the charcoal on the sides for optimal heat.)

   NOTE: When you want to use the “Smokin’ Chip Feeder” to add wood chips to the fire, it’s good to make sure the charcoal is not covering the access port at the front of the firebox area (see details under Smoking on a Saffire).

1. Start the fire.
   • When using a combustible fire-starter, nestle one down into the charcoal. You can place fire-starters in more than one spot in the charcoal if you want to get the whole area burning quicker for high-temperature kamado grilling and searing. (While arranging your starter, you can stack some charcoal around it to speed up the ignition process. Be sure to leave enough air space around the stacked charcoal for the air and flame or it will not burn properly.) Now light the starter.
   • When using an electric fire-starter, nestle it down into the charcoal so it rests in the charcoal just above the Fire Grate. The charcoal should envelope the lower half of the starter element. At this point you can plug in the starter. Remember to unplug and remove the starter within 8 minutes to avoid damaging the starter. Once you see a nice ember going inside the charcoal, the fire should continue to increase even after removing the starter.
2. Let the temperature rise. Replace the Cooking Grid and close the grill. Then swing the Chimney Top Air Control fully open until the grill is up to the desired temperature.
3. Adjust the temperature the way you want it. When the grill has reached the right temperature, adjust the Top and Bottom Air Controls according to your needs (see Controlling the Temperature).

Don’t forget to extinguish the fire when you are finished cooking. Simply close the Top and Bottom Air Controls to snuff the fire out. This will efficiently preserve any remaining coals for next use. (Note that you can close the Air Controls before your food is finished cooking. Your Saffire will hold its heat for a long time. However, see the safety section below.)

When the thermometer at the top of the kamado is near 600° F (300° C) the temperature at the lowest cooking grid position is 1,000° F (540° C)!

When cooking, there shouldn’t be any need to exceed a temperature of 700° F. Be careful not to exceed 750° F (400° C) on your thermometer, or you risk damaging your gasket, internal ceramic firebox and/or internal ceramic fire ring. Your grill should never reach 1,000° F at the dome, as this posses a safety risk.

Note: We recommend that the top and bottom Air Controls be adjusted in sync with one another so that the bottom control is not open much more than the top control. As air reaches the fire and is superheated, it expands greatly. With this in mind, it is better to slow the fire down by first reducing the bottom damper opening, and then reducing the top damper opening. This is recommended, but is not a safety issue.

When using the Multi-Level Cooking Rack, you can place half-grids at the lower level or at the top level depending on how much heat you need. You can also cook on both levels at once. If you desire to cook on the full diameter of the cooking area on both levels, you can purchase two more of the half-grids for this purpose. You may also add another level of cooking with the Secondary Cooking Grid (SCG).

When Roasting or Smoking, you want to cook with indirect heat to avoid burning the surface of your meat. This can accomplished by putting your food on a rack which is placed inside a pan. After which you can add water, juice, etc. to the pan for a more effective buffer from the heat.

However, an easier way to accomplish this is to use Saffire’s Ceramic Heat Deflector. When a Heat Deflector goes underneath your food, it creates an indirect, convective heat. This is handy any time you find yourself cooking extra thick meat, which may otherwise become overly done on the outside, before the inside has finished cooking.

Heat Deflectors turn your Saffire into a highly efficient smoker and oven, where both convective and radiant heat comes back down onto your food from the dome of the grill. The result is even heat all around your masterpiece, eliminating the need for rotisseries, water pans, meat racks and all of the preparation and cleaning that goes along with them.

After starting the fire, place your Ceramic Heat Deflector on the bottom of the Multi-Rack. Use just one half-deflector if you want indirect heat on one side and direct heat for grilling on the other side. A space is left between the deflector and the firebox for the heat to flow. We recommend placing a disposable aluminum pan, or foil with the edges bent up, on top of the Ceramic Heat Deflector, to catch any drippings. That will keep them from running into the fire and prevent minor flair ups.

Once the Heat Deflector(s) are in place, the Cooking Grids may be placed in the desired position on the wire rack.

With the Secondary Cooking Grid (SCG), which is placed on top of the full circular cooking area, you get an even larger cooking area. It is elevated 5 inches above the cooking surface below, which allows enough room to access and turn food on the lower level without removal.

To add the Secondary Cooking grid to your grill, look for the tab welded to the bottom and back of your Cooking Grids. Place the back leg of the grid on this tab. Then let the front legs rests on the bars of the Cooking Grids.

While it isn’t necessary to use soap to clean the Cooking Grids after every cook-out, we do suggest using a wire brush on your grids before you cook. Here’s how to do that.

After starting the fire, put the Cooking Grid into position and allow it to heat up at a high temperature setting (500° F) for 5 to 10 minutes. Then brush the grids, close the lid and slow the grill down with the Air Controls. Finally, a good way to finish cleaning and prepare the grid for food is to wipe it with a cloth soaked with vegetable or olive oil. You can use your grill brush to aid in the application. A small piece of cloth will normally stick to the wire brush quite well. Do this just before putting food on the grill.