"Pane al carbone" (bread with charcoal)

Florence has a large and recently renovated "Mercato Centrale" where you can do all of your fresh food shopping, coffee drinking, and people watching under one roof. On our last day in Florence last month, Jane and I bought a small loaf of very black bread at a "panetteria" in that market - blacker than any bread I'd ever seen. It was very good bread with no burnt taste or any unusual flavour.

Pane carbone and panini being finished off at a departure gate

Back home, I found plenty of websites describing the use of powdered charcoal as a bread amendment. Some claim health benefits analogous to the use of activated charcoal for detoxifying air, water, and even digestive systems (after some kinds of accidental poisoning). Others talk about the pros and cons, pointing out that eating bread containing powdered charcoal could theoretically interfere with the absorption of some prescription drugs but that the amount of charcoal used in "pane al carbone" is probably too small to have much effect, either positive or negative. Regardless, I HAD to try it.

My local health food store only had activated charcoal in capsules so I picked some fir charcoal out of our wood stove, crushing and sieving it through a wire strainer. It was easy but messy, creating little clouds of fine black dust. Here's what four loaves of otherwise identical bread looked like with (clockwise from lower left) none, 1 teaspoon, 2 teaspoons, and 2 tablespoons.

Bread with cracked grain, sunflower seeds and 0 to 2 tablespoons of powdered charcoal

Conclusion

This bread is visually striking but as far as I can tell, charcoal adds virtually no flavour, health benefit, or hazard. That's not counting the fine black dust I inhaled while making my own! I'll probably make this bread only rarely. 

Without the charcoal, this bread is currently one of my favourite breads. It's grainy, healthy, and makes excellent toast.

Recipe for four large loaves of grainy fermented bread

6 c water
pinch yeast (about 1/8 t)
4 c mixed cracked grains, e.g. 7 grain cereal
2 c unbleached white flour
Cover and let stand at room temperature for up to 3 days. Less in warm weather, more in fridge.
The "biga" should be bubbly and have a distinctive fermented aroma on baking day.
Add up to 2 T powdered charcoal per loaf.
Add additional flour for kneading. I used 1 c whole wheat and 4 c unbleached white. Divide into four either before or after kneading. Allow to rise until volume increases by about 50%. This takes 1-4 hours depending on temperature. Gently shape into loaves and bake at 450F for 15 to 40 minutes depending on shape. e.g. One loaf teased out onto a full cookie sheet will be done in about 15 min. This is the easiest shape to bake just right because it's done when it looks done. In a round 9 inch cake pan, the above loaves baked for 25 minutes at 450 and then 15 minutes at 350. I use an instant read meat thermometer to help judge doneness.

Happy experimenting!