How Long Can Chicken Sit Out?

Chicken is a lean and versatile protein, making it a popular ingredient in many dishes.

However, chicken is commonly contaminated with disease-causing organisms known as pathogens, which can lead to foodborne illness or food poisoning.

These pathogens can multiply if you leave chicken at room temperature for too long, making it unsafe to eat.

This article explains how long chicken can safely sit out and provides tips to reduce your risk of foodborne illness from consuming it.

Chicken and the temperature danger zone

Chicken is commonly contaminated with harmful species of Salmonella and Camplobacter.

Chickens can carry these pathogens in their intestinal tract and often, during processing, carcasses can be contaminated with the pathogens.

These pathogens can survive processing and storage, and even multiply when chicken is kept too long in the temperature danger zone.

The temperature danger zone is between 40ºF and 140ºF for the general public (those not working in foodservice).

Falling between this range is room temperature at about 70ºF.

Food that requires refrigeration to keep it safe — including chicken — should not be left in the temperature danger zone for more than two hours.

But if the temperature is above 90ºF, the two-hour rule is reduced to one hour since bacteria can multiply more rapidly in warmer temperatures (1).

Chicken — whether raw or cooked — that exceeds the two- or one-hour rule becomes unsafe and must be tossed.

Additional tips for keeping chicken safe

While not all chicken becomes contaminated, it’s best to assume it might be and handle and prepare it safely.

Here are additional tips for keeping chicken safe:

Defrost safely

Leaving chicken out at room temperature is not a safe method for thawing chicken.

Instead, the safest way to thaw chicken is by moving it to the fridge 1-2 days before you plan to cook it.

But if you don’t have 1-2 days, you can run it under cool, running water. The water should be no warmer than 70ºF to prevent the outside of the chicken from reaching an unsafe level before the middle has a chance to thaw completely.

You can also thaw in the microwave at 50% power or using the defrost setting.

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Also, never rinse your chicken with the hopes of removing bacteria. The splashing water actually spreads bacteria around. #foodhandler #foodsafety #foodsafetymanager #barechicken

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Store properly

Store raw chicken in your refrigerator on the bottom shelf to prevent its juices — which could contain pathogens — from dripping or spilling onto and contaminating other foods.

Once cooked, store chicken on the top shelf to prevent contamination from raw animal products or produce that requires washing.

Here is the proper storage order for refrigerated foods, in order of top to bottom:

1. Ready-to-eat foods and leftovers
2. Whole cuts of seafood
3. Whole cuts of beef and pork
4. Ground meats and seafood
5. Whole and ground poultry

Cook thoroughly

Cooking effectively kill any bacteria present on chicken but only if you cook it to its minimum internal temperature of 165ºF .

Cooked below this temperature and enough pathogens can survive to make you sick.

You can’t rely on color, texture, or the juices running clear to indicate that the chicken has reached a safe internal temperature — the only valid way is by using a calibrated food thermometer.

Storage limits

Refrigeration slows bacteria growth but it isn’t enough to stop it.

Thus, you can only keep chicken refrigerated for so long before bacteria begin to multiply to unsafe levels.

For raw chicken, you should either cook or freeze it within 1-2 days. If the chicken was previously frozen, you can still refreeze it but its quality might decline.

For cooked chicken, always freeze or eat within 3-4 days for best quality (2).

The bottom line

Chicken is a popular and versatile protein, but it can be contaminated with harmful pathogens like Salmonella and Campylobacter, which can cause foodborne illness.

These pathogens can multiply if chicken is left out at room temperature for too long, so it should not be left out for more than two hours, or one hour if the temperature is above 90ºF.

To reduce the risk of illness, handle chicken safely by thawing it in the refrigerator or under cool running water, cooking it to an internal temperature of 165ºF, and storing it properly in the fridge.

Additionally, refrigerate raw chicken for 1-2 days and cooked chicken for up to three days.