Stafford Township, NJ Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Chapter 147 of the Stafford Township Code begins with a prohibition in § 147-1 on any form of open burning on public or private property, except as the chapter specifically authorizes. Cooking is one of the authorized exceptions. Section 147-2A allows burning of charcoal, dry, clean untreated wood and other cooking fuels in an outdoor grill; traditional food cooking devices; and an outside fireplace or chiminea constructed of metal, concrete, brick, earth or other nonflammable substance which is designed to contain burning.

The code never uses the word smoker. A backyard cook using a charcoal or wood-fired smoker is relying on the language "outdoor grill" and "traditional food cooking devices," and the fuel list the code prints: charcoal, dry, clean untreated wood, and other cooking fuels. The fuel descriptions matter, because the word "untreated" and the "dry, clean" requirement keep painted, pressure-treated or damp scrap wood out of the allowed category.

No permit is needed for these cooking fires. The special open burn permit in § 147-3 and the conditions in § 147-4, including the 30 foot distance and the attendance rule, are written for recreational or ceremonial fires under § 147-2B and other permitted burns. Section 147-1 still bars allowing combustible material to accumulate in a way that contributes to open burning.

Public parks are stricter. Under § 151-20, no person can start or maintain a fire in a park except in designated picnic or camping areas, fires are limited to cooking fires or fires in camp lanterns or heaters, and cooking fires must be in a stove, fireplace or barbecue pit maintained by the Department or in a portable camp stove. Fuels cannot produce noxious fumes or smoke, and the person must completely extinguish the fire before leaving the area.