Iowa City, IA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Although chapter 6-6 opens with a flat ban on open fires in section 6-6-1, section 6-6-2B carves outdoor cooking out of the permit system entirely: open burning for campfires and outdoor cooking is permitted without any burning permit if performed in an approved container constructed of steel, brick or masonry. A charcoal grill, a steel smoker, or a masonry fire pit used for cooking all fall inside that exception because they are enclosed, noncombustible containers rather than an open ground fire. Section 6-6-2C adds a second no-permit category for portable, outdoor fireplaces, covering the freestanding metal fire pits and chimeneas common on patios and decks.

Neither exception sets a numeric distance from the house, the lot line, or neighboring structures, unlike the 50-foot separation the code requires for prescribed agricultural field burns under 6-6-2A(3); the operative limit for smokers and grills is the container material itself; wood, wire mesh or unlined earthen pits do not qualify, and using one could fall back under the general open-burning prohibition in 6-6-1 and require a fire department permit under 6-6-2A instead.