How long can you safely leave ice cream out?

Answer 1

It's all about the relative moisture and sugar content of the finished product. The less moisture and/or more sugar something has, the less hospitable it is to molds and bacteria either looking for a home or already present and looking to grow. So a custard pie not only has eggs, but is very moist, probably only a moderate percentage of sugar, plus dairy that could turn sour. A shoofly pie has eggs, but a lot more sugar and no dairy, so a shoofly pie will be less hospitable to bacteria. A typical cookie is fairly dry and high sugar, and will keep very well. Most candies are mostly sugar, even a soft chewy caramel should keep for weeks (humidity and crystallization are bigger threats than mold). Fruit pies and cakes with big chunks of fruit in them fall somewhere in the middle. Baked goods without a lot of sugar as a preservative are fine for 2-3 days.

Some pies made with eggs can be left out: pumpkin, sweet potato, coconut, Chess pies can all be left out until they're gone as long as it's not stored in humid conditions.

Nut pies like pecan, peanut, cashew, walnut pies are also okay to leave out until eaten. They don't need to be refrigerated.

Berry and most stone fruit pies have higher moisture content and should not be left out longer than a few hours.

Apple and pear pies can sit out for a few days and they won't spoil (most are not made with eggs).

I've got homemade yellow layer cake w/choc frosting, coconut layer cake and a sweet potato pie sitting in my kitchen on the counter, where they'll stay until eaten up....

Shoofly pie have many similar ingredients as a Pecan Pie without the nuts in that it is baked until firm so I don't see a problem with it going bad before being eaten up. I'd leave it at room temp.

A stroll through your local grocery store's bakery section can be your guide on what to leave out at room temp...most stores leave these types of pies out until sold, they don't refrigerate them and then put them back out daily; they leave them out until sold.

Answer 2

For up to 30 minutes.