How long can Thanksgiving dinner sit out?
Short answer: 2 hours at room temperature, and 1 hour when the room is above 90 °F. Count from when the food came out of the oven or fridge, then get it back into the fridge before the limit.
USDA's limit for leftover turkey, stuffing and gravy is 2 hours at room temperature, and 1 hour when it is above 90 °F. The UC excerpt of FSIS advice applies the same limit to perishable foods, so this page uses it for every dish. The hard part on the day is knowing when the clock started. The turkey came out of the oven before anyone sat down, and the pies were on the counter all afternoon. Enter the time dinner starts and this page counts back from there to a latest time for each dish to be back in the fridge.
| Dish | Clock starts | Fridge by |
|---|---|---|
| Turkeyout of the oven, rested and carved | 4:30 PM | 6:30 PM |
| Hot sides (stuffing, potatoes, casseroles)out of the oven or off the stove | 4:50 PM | 6:50 PM |
| Gravyoff the stove | 4:50 PM | 6:50 PM |
| Cold dishes (cranberry sauce, salads)out of the fridge | 4:45 PM | 6:45 PM |
| Pieson the table at dinner start | 5:00 PM | 7:00 PM |
What USDA says
- From the USDA brochure Let's Talk Turkey (Wisconsin Extension copy): "Discard any turkey, stuffing, and gravy left out at room temperature longer than 2 hours; 1 hour in temperatures above 90 °F."
- The same brochure on leftovers: "Divide leftovers into smaller portions. Refrigerate or freeze in covered shallow containers for quicker cooling."
- A University of California page that excerpts FoodSafety.gov and FSIS says to "Refrigerate perishable foods within 2 hours (1 hour when temperatures are above 90°F)". It also puts the danger zone at "between 40°F and 140°F".
That is everything this page takes from the sources. The rest is arithmetic on the clock. For food safety questions beyond these lines, the brochure lists the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline.
When the clock starts
No source says when "left out" begins for a dinner, so the start times above are my assumptions. The turkey counts from the moment it leaves the oven, 30 minutes before dinner: a 20 minute stand plus 10 for carving. Hot sides and gravy count from 10 minutes before dinner, cold dishes from 15 minutes before, and pies from the moment they go on the table. If your food came out earlier, move the start earlier and the deadline moves with it. When in doubt, count from the oven.
The deadline is the latest time to refrigerate. Putting leftovers away while people are still at the table leaves nothing for the end of the evening. Shallow containers cool faster, per the brochure line above, so dividing the turkey early also helps.
Fridge-by times for common dinner times
| Dinner | Turkey, 2 h | Turkey, above 90 °F | Pies, 2 h | Pies, above 90 °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 PM | 1:30 PM | 12:30 PM | 2:00 PM | 1:00 PM |
| 1:00 PM | 2:30 PM | 1:30 PM | 3:00 PM | 2:00 PM |
| 2:00 PM | 3:30 PM | 2:30 PM | 4:00 PM | 3:00 PM |
| 3:00 PM | 4:30 PM | 3:30 PM | 5:00 PM | 4:00 PM |
| 4:00 PM | 5:30 PM | 4:30 PM | 6:00 PM | 5:00 PM |
| 5:00 PM | 6:30 PM | 5:30 PM | 7:00 PM | 6:00 PM |
| 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 6:30 PM | 8:00 PM | 7:00 PM |
A 1 PM dinner has the turkey out at 12:30 PM, so it has to be cold again by 2:30 PM. A 5 PM dinner gives you until 6:30 PM.
Related pages
- Dinner runs late and the turkey is done? How to keep a turkey warm before serving covers the covered 200 °F oven hold.
- After the meal: reheating leftover turkey has the 165 °F target and the refrigerator deadline by dinner time.
- Sides for the next day: reheat Thanksgiving sides lists 350 °F times.
- How long to rest a turkey shows what the stand does to the oven plan.