How long can beef stew be left at room temperature?

four hours is the maximum for any food at room temperature. === === Four hours is too long. Potentially hazardous food should not be left out more than 2 hours. If the ambient temperature is around 90°F, cut that to 1 hour.

The US Food Code recommends that potentially hazardous food be cooled from 140°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then further chilled to 40°F within another 4 hours. So after 2 hours, the food should either be reheated to 165°F or placed in the fridge to cool further.

Four hours was an old recommendation, but that was to get the food from 140°F to 40°F. Which means it would have to be fully chilled by the end of that time frame - not still sitting out at room temperature.