Chook Me!

how long can raw chicken sit out before it goes bad?

I went to costco today and got chicken, on the way home I stopped at wal-mart. The chicken sat out in my car for an hour. Is it bad?

Public Comments

1. No it's fine. If it would get bad, you could smell it...even the slightest off smell of bad
2. Depends on how hot it is where you are? Was the chicken still cool to the touch when you were putting it away or was warm.. If it was warm I would think the bacteria count would be very high, I wouldn't risk it. If it still had some coolness to it then it should be OK, just be sure to cook it well and use it quickly. Also, No leftovers.
3. The legal answer is two hours. That includes the time it took for the internal temp to get back down to cold enough in the fridge. It's probably ok.