Hi Jill, I doubt this is a sign of bacterial growth if you just took it out of the oven. Could something have rubbed up against it (dish towel, oven mitt) that might have transferred color to your loaf? Could you have nicked yourself when you were slashing the bread and bled a little? Is the spot on the crust, or in the interior of your loaf? Is it something you can cut off, just to be on the safe side? Honestly I don't know what this could be, but if you didn't see any pink spots in the starter or on the dough as it was rising and fermenting, then it's most likely harmless. If you happened to make a dough that sat out at room temperature for a very extended time (overnight) and mixed it with starter that was on the verge of spoiling, I suppose the dough could have shown signs of developing bad bacteria, but it seems like you would have noticed this during folding or shaping the dough. In any case most bacteria would be destroyed by baking, but I would cut off the questionable spot if it was me.
October 4, 2021 at 4:38pm
In reply to Hi, I just took a loaf of… by Jill Donahue (not verified)
Hi Jill, I doubt this is a sign of bacterial growth if you just took it out of the oven. Could something have rubbed up against it (dish towel, oven mitt) that might have transferred color to your loaf? Could you have nicked yourself when you were slashing the bread and bled a little? Is the spot on the crust, or in the interior of your loaf? Is it something you can cut off, just to be on the safe side? Honestly I don't know what this could be, but if you didn't see any pink spots in the starter or on the dough as it was rising and fermenting, then it's most likely harmless. If you happened to make a dough that sat out at room temperature for a very extended time (overnight) and mixed it with starter that was on the verge of spoiling, I suppose the dough could have shown signs of developing bad bacteria, but it seems like you would have noticed this during folding or shaping the dough. In any case most bacteria would be destroyed by baking, but I would cut off the questionable spot if it was me.