Worcester County, MD Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Outdoor cooking in Worcester County is handled as an exemption inside the Open Burning Regulations, not in a separate cooking ordinance. Those regulations define open burning as any fire where any material is burned in the open or in a receptacle other than a closed furnace, incinerator or other equipment connected to a stack or chimney. Section PS 1-504(a)(4) then allows the cooking of food on other than commercial premises, and the cooking of food on certain char-broilers or pit barbecues that are subject to state regulation, provided that only unpainted or untreated wood, charcoal, propane or natural gas is burned. A backyard smoker or grill fueled by hardwood, charcoal, propane or natural gas fits that list. Painted or treated lumber, pallets or trash as smoker fuel does not.

The exemption carries conditions in its lead-in. Open burning must conform to other governmental fire control ordinances, no nuisance or air pollution can be created, and the activity is allowed with permission as the subsection provides. The opening general rule in § PS 1-502(b) also applies: a person may not knowingly cause or permit open burning when, in the sole discretion and judgement of either the Control Officer or the Fire Marshal, a condition of air stagnation exists, the burning causes unreasonable interference with a person's health, safety, comfort, or use or enjoyment of their real property, or the burning creates a nuisance. Smoke drifting onto a neighbor's property is the practical test of that language.

Subsection (c) of § PS 1-502 requires that open burning allowed by the Subtitle remain under supervision until completely extinguished, including the tending of the fire by sufficient personnel who are adequately equipped and trained. The Control Officer is the Environmental Programs Administrator of the Department of Development, Review and Permitting, and the Fire Marshal is the Worcester County Fire Marshal or an authorized deputy. Recreational campfires are a separate exemption in § PS 1-504(a)(5), also limited to unpainted or untreated wood.