It's no secret that many of us leave foods out a little too long when cooking at home. From raw chicken to cooked rice, we've written all about the safest ways to handle foods, including how to store them, and when you need to move them from the counter to the fridge. A lot of food safety is common sense (mold is bad, for example), but the old adage, "common sense is not common," also holds true.

This leads me to Reddit where I recently found a thread on r/Cooking that speaks to the common confusion surrounding food prep. It reads: "My roommate says you can leave hard boiled eggs out for 2 days???" and follows with "he boils the eggs and just leaves them in the cooking water for up to 2 days." The author also says that, "he said he’s never gotten sick."

Does this mean that you can also leave your hard-boiled eggs out on the counter? Not quite. Read on to learn more about the best way to store hard-boiled eggs.

Per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), you need to move those eggs from counter to the fridge within two hours. You'll need to be quicker and transfer the eggs to the fridge within one hour if the temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Why? Because the bacteria that cause food-borne illness thrive in what is known as the "temperature danger zone" (40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit). The faster you get the food out of the danger zone, the less likely you are to get sick.

And for those wondering, keeping the cooked eggs in an ice bath on the counter is not a replacement for transferring them to the fridge in a timely manner.

You, like many folks in the Reddit thread, perhaps have a rebuttal. For example, you might be thinking, well, on Easter we leave the dyed eggs out all day and you've never gotten sick. Or as one commenter said, "Some people haven't heard of Easter, perhaps."

I understand this impulse, but just because you haven't gotten sick doesn't mean you can't. Listen, we don't make the rules, but we do follow the science.

The USDA notes that in addition to temperature concerns, water also contributes to potentially harmful bacteria growth in hard-boiled eggs. "The process of hard-cooking eggs leads to a thin layer of water forming on the cooked egg surface under the shell. The presence of the water provides a favorable environment for bacterial growth, including those which lead to spoilage." This is why despite being cooked, hard-boiled eggs have a shorter shelf life than raw eggs.

For the best quality and shelf life, store hard-boiled eggs unpeeled in the fridge for up to one week. The American Egg Board recommends placing them in a loosely covered container, rather than something airtight, to prevent yeast growth.

Other tips from The American Egg Board to keep in mind when preparing or storing hard-boiled eggs: