 uh-huh yep yep meredith carothers agriculture department food safety expert says one of the biggest july 4th mistakes is leaving that grilled meat and poultry out for too long at the mercy of bacteria in the air or from people's hands or any place two hours is the absolute longest you should leave it out because that's a time frame where bacteria can then reach dangerous levels and ultimately then if they reach those dangerous levels they may not be able to be killed by reheating or cooking further or