Saggars have long been used in wood-fired kilns. In these kilns you have flying ash. To protect the glaze from the ashes, the work is placed in a ceramic pot (saggar).

Saggars can also be used as an alternative firing method. Bisque fired work (unglazed) is placed in the saggar together with coloring and combustible materials. During the firing, the materials ignite and colors appear on the work.

This has a few advantages 
• you don’t need a gas kiln or a piece of land
• you can do it indoors (no, not much smoke)
• you will always reach the right temperature
• you need less colorants and combustibles, so it’s much more sustainable, even more so if you use solar panels for your kiln
• the success rate is higher

Will my kiln turn black inside?

No, if it does, there was something wrong: there were too many combustible materials in your saggar or there was oil, paint or other contaminants on or in the materials you were firing with.

Does the fire alarm go off when I burn the saggar?

No, it will not.
When firing a saggar in an electric kiln many people have the image of a pitfire: a lot of smoke development. However, that is not true. Because you are burning in a relatively small space (the saggar), you only need very little combustible materials. You also need to make sure that everything is dry. If smoke does come out of your kiln then there were too many combustible materials in your saggar or your saggar was too big or there was oil or paint on your combustibles.