Introduction

Most people are familiar with the one-hour “rule” for leftovers. This is a common guideline that says that you should discard any food that’s been sitting out at room temperature for more than an hour. However, it can be hard to keep track of time when you’re busy making dinner and cleaning up afterwards. If this is the case, don’t worry: there’s actually no need to throw away your cooked chicken! Although there are some risks associated with leaving food out for too long—especially if it’s at room temperature—it turns out that some foods can last longer than others before going bad. In this article, we’ll explain how long cooked chicken lasts and what steps you can take to prevent spoilage after cooking so that your delicious dinner doesn’t turn into something gross when stored in the fridge overnight or longer.

It’s important to know that raw chicken can be dangerous.

You should know that raw chicken can be dangerous. It’s important to keep it separate from other foods in your refrigerator so that bacteria doesn’t spread, and you should wash your hands after handling raw chicken.

It’s best to refrigerate cooked chicken as soon as possible, but you can leave it out for about 2 hours.

You can leave cooked chicken out for about two hours. However, it’s best to refrigerate your food as soon as possible to prevent bacteria from forming on the surface of your food and making you sick. If you don’t have time to put it in the fridge right away, keep it in a sealed container so that no bugs or dust can get into it while it waits in the kitchen while you finish up other things around the house before putting everything away later on.

Always keep raw and cooked chicken separate in the refrigerator.

You should always keep raw and cooked chicken separate in your refrigerator. Raw chicken can be dangerous because it can contain harmful bacteria like salmonella, which causes food poisoning. Cooking the meat to a high enough temperature will kill off any pathogens lurking inside, but if you accidentally cross-contaminate your meat with bacteria from another source (like raw fish or eggs), you’ll be increasing your risk of getting sick.

To prevent this from happening, always store raw meats on one level of your refrigerator and store cooked/prepared foods on another level–this way there’s no chance for cross contamination between them!

You should also keep chicken on a separate level in the fridge from raw fish and meat products.

When you’re storing cooked chicken, you should also keep it on a separate level from raw fish and meat products. Raw fish can be contaminated with parasites that can cause illness when consumed. Similarly, certain types of bacteria (such as Listeria monocytogenes) may grow more quickly in warm temperatures than they would at cooler ones; this means that if you were to store your cooked chicken next to raw meat or seafood, there’s a chance that those bacteria might get onto your cooked meat and make it unsafe for consumption.

You should store all cooked foods in tightly sealed containers–and if possible, keep them away from other foods altogether by storing them in different parts of the refrigerator according to how long each type needs to be kept chilled before eating again (see below). If possible, use an opened packet of lemon juice as part of your storage method: The citric acid helps inhibit bacterial growth while keeping out moisture so nothing gets soggy!

If you do have to store leftover chicken for longer than 2 hours, make sure you store it in a tightly sealed container with an opened packet of lemon juice inside. This will prevent bacteria from forming on the surface of your food.

If you do have to store leftover chicken for longer than 2 hours, make sure you store it in a tightly sealed container with an opened packet of lemon juice inside. This will prevent bacteria from forming on the surface of your food.

If you don’t have any tightly sealed containers, wrap some tin foil around the top of your dish and tuck it under the lid so that air cannot get in or out.

If you don’t have lemon juice (or if we’ve already told you that this tip won’t work), cover all surfaces with plastic wrap before storing them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours–but only if there’s no chance that anyone else might eat it!

There are some precautions you can take when serving leftovers such as using proper storage containers and keeping cooked foods separate from raw foods

• Use a container with a lid. This will help keep your food fresh and prevent it from drying out.
• Store in the fridge, not on the countertop. Your refrigerator should be set between 34 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit (1-4 degrees Celsius). If you don’t have room for leftovers in your fridge, try storing them in an insulated cooler bag with ice packs until they can be transferred to their permanent home. Don’t forget to label everything so you know what’s what when it comes time to eat those leftovers!
• Keep cooked foods separate from raw meats and fish–it’s better safe than sorry! And remember that if there are any questions about whether something is safe or not after cooking, throw it out immediately without hesitation–no questions asked!

Conclusion

We hope that this article has provided you with some valuable information about how long you can leave cooked chicken out. It’s important to remember that if your food doesn’t smell or look right, don’t eat it! If you follow these simple tips then there shouldn’t be any problems with storing leftovers in the fridge.