Can You Eat Cooked Chicken Which Is Left Out Overnight?

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Can you eat cooked chicken which has been left out overnight? You cannot usually, but make it usable by learning how to preserve it.

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James JonesOct.7 23:57

If you follow food guidelines then about 2 hours at room temperature is enough to establish a new population of bacteria. But I find these guidelines to err FAR on the side of caution, its all personal preference but no pathogenic bacteria survive over 140 F, and if your paranoid, heat your food to 165F for 10 minutes. you'll damage the flavor of some foods, but it won't have much bacteria left - apply the same rules to leftovers and there are few situations where the food will have any negative characteristics. The exception is Staph and a couple others that form spores that are heat resistant or toxic, but if your kitchen is clean and sanitized this is probably unlikely.
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Jeanne CrosbyJan.31 22:27

So if I take the offending chicken and make a soup stock out of it, bringing it to a full boil, I should be okay?
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LisaMay.7 21:04

@ Jeanne Crosby : I literally can't understand all these internet comments on the dangers of eating cooked chicken left out. For more than a decade I've left out cooked chicken (especially Whole Foods hot bar items) on the counter....for several days (most was approx 72 hours) and my family and I have NEVER once been sick or had any negative repercussions. Sometimes I'd heat it, almost always for my family, but personally I prefer room temperature, hence the reason for leaving it out. Obviously it's cool in my kitchen, averaging 60 at the most, and the chicken never smelled or tasted bad. I think everyone's being overly cautious.
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john coldFeb.7 19:45

This i so not true, i've been leaving chicken out overnight, even 2 nights and i've never been ill.
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robFeb.27 01:32

at about 2am i grilled some chicken, a little under cooked. microwaved it off the grill and got it over 160 degrees. left a breast in the microwave overnight. approx 10 hrs later i realized and re-heated it in the microwave up to 160+, then put it in the fridge. that night i reheated it again up to 160 and ate it. no issues.
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TiaJun.13 06:20

I agree with John. I have left a cooked chicken out over 2 nights, still on the bone, and never been ill.
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Alex RailtonJul.24 16:20

Throw it away? All you have to do is reheat it, it may lose some flavour but jesus there are people starving in third world countries, our answer to chicken that's been out for a while is to throw it away? Everyone ignore this article, BS, just reheat it.
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AustinSep.22 21:06

I decided to perform an experiment to test this. I left a chicken leg and thigh out overnight and ate it for lunch today. I feel fine. Don't waste food, people.
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BritniSep.23 15:35

Ok I've eaten left out chicken all I do is hear it up and my health is amazing
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Johny WalkerSep.30 18:00

I left some chicken out overnight, and there were 4 pieces of fried chicken left in the morning sitting on the counter. 24 hours later I farted out shit. Listen to the article.
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mitzi56Oct.30 15:39

i had cooked mine in the oven over 160 degrees, and then shut the oven off and left the chicken overnight in the oven so it did go back down to room temperature inside the stove for almost 10 hours. will it make a difference if it was sealed in the oven?
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LisaMay.7 20:55

@ mitzi56 : I literally can't understand all these internet comments on the dangers of eating cooked chicken left out. For years I've left out my cooked chicken (especially Whole Foods hot bar items) on the counter....for days (most was 72 hours) and my family and I NEVER once got sick or had any negative repercussions. Obviously it's cool in my kitchen, averaging 60 at the most, but never did the chicken smell or taste bad. I think everyone's being overly cautious.
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