St. Louis, MO Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

St. Louis is a barbecue and smoked-meat town, and the City does not have a smoker-specific ordinance restricting residential offset smokers, pellet grills, wood-fired pizza ovens, or kamado-style ceramic cookers at single-family or two-family properties. The 2018 International Fire Code adopted in SLRC Title 25 requires that commercially manufactured cooking devices maintain safe clearance from combustible construction, and IFC §308.1.4 prohibits open-flame cookers — including wood and pellet smokers — on combustible balconies in multi-family buildings of three or more units. The citywide open-burning ban in SLRC Ch. 11.66 exempts cooking fires using charcoal, wood, or gas to prepare food, so residential smokers operating as intended are not affected. Missouri DNR's air-quality rules (10 CSR 10-6) likewise exempt residential cooking. Smoke that drifts across property lines and substantially interferes with a neighbor's use of their property can be cited as a public nuisance under MO Rev. Stat. §574.010 (peace disturbance) or under the City's general nuisance authority. HOAs and condo associations may impose stricter smoker rules enforceable through the association.