Charcoal Bread
I have started to eat bread baked with activated charcoal and I find it has a positive effect on digestion and assists to cleanse the
gut -
Gluten-Free Bread Basics:
This recipe was
developed in Ho-Chi-Minh City and Sydney.
Because all flour brands behave differently, please click on the button below and read about the
The Size of the Tin is Important
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In Australia I use this tin by mastercraft:
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crusty bake non stick loaf pan
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16.5 X 10.5 X 7CM
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this tin looks tiny but it is perfect for this loaf
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if you want to use the next size up, you have to double the recipe and bake the loaf longer
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in my oven the small tin bakes 70 minutes and the large tin 95 minutes
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I always use baking paper no matter how non stick they think it is...
Ingredients for the Dry Mix
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activated charcoal
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white rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch
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fine himalayan rock salt
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nutritional yeast flakes
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lin- or flaxseeds, freshly ground
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gluten free baking powder, I recommend Bob's Red Mill double acting baking powder, due to being gluten and aluminium free
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clean water
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guar gum or xanthan gum
INGREDIENTS FOR THE YEAST MIX
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active dry yeast (I recommend to use Bob's Red Mill)
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lukewarm clean tap or bottled water
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rice malt syrup
INGREDIENTS FOR THE WET MIX
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extra virgin olive oil
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organic apple cider vinegar, with the mother. I like the raw, unfiltered version from Bragg
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psyllium husks
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filtered or clean water
I am using this mix as an egg replacement
LIN-OR FLAXSEED
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I use a 1/4 cup in this recipe and grind it just before baking to a rough powder in for example a Ninja smoothie blender (1500 watts). I have heard a coffee grinder could do the same job, but you can use them whole too
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read about the health benefits of ground flaxseed here
Click on images below to start enlarged slideshow
follow instructions how to do it in recipe
make sure the mix is still luke warm
so that most of the yeast stays in the water
for about 20 minutes
PREPARE THE YEAST MIX
Amounts needed
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3 tsp (teaspoons) of active, dry yeast
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1/4 cup of very hot water
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1/2 cup of water, room temperature
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1 TB (tablespoon) rice malt syrup
Process
Boil some water, you need 1/4 cup recently boiled water. Add hot water to mixing bowl and add the rice malt syrup. Stir until combined.
Add room temperature water, stir to combine. Now drizzle in the yeast, give it a gentle stir and let the bowl rest in a warm, wind free spot for 20 minutes. Click on the images to enlarge them and you can see how the yeast is rising. Photos were taken 5 minutes apart.
The yeast needs a sugar to feed on and I have tried this recipe a few times with dried stevia powder, but the yeast does not rise with stevia. It works well with rice malt syrup and it is all eaten by the yeast, the bread does not taste sweet!
PREPARE THE WET MIX
Amounts needed
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1 tsp of apple cider vinegar (acv)
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1/2 cup of tap or bottled water
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3 TB of water
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1 TB olive oil
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1 TB psyllium husks
Process
Get your amounts organised, as the psyllium husks thicken up quickly and you don't want uneven blobs in the mix-
Whisk the acv and the oil into the 1/2 cup of water.
Pour 3 TB of water into a bowl, ad the psyllium husks and whisk quickly to combine, then straight away ad the oil-water-acv-mix and whisk again to combine. Make sure it is lump free.
Let this mix rest for about 5-10 minutes until it is set like a custard -
PREPARE THE DRY MIX
Amounts needed
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1/2 cup brown rice flour
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1/2 cup white rice flour
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1 cup tapioca starch
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3/4 cup potato starch
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1 tsp (teaspoon) pink salt
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1 TB (tablespoon) activated charcoal
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2 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum
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2 tsp baking powder
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1/4 cup linseeds, freshly ground
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1 TB nutritional yeast flakes
Process
Add flours, starches, salt, charcoal, guar or xanthan gum, yeast flakes, seeds and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk till well combined. Or add all ingredients into a lidded plastic container and shake it until combined.
MIX THE MIXES
Add the wet and the yeast mix to the flour mix and gently stir with a large spoon until well combined. This may take a minute or two.
Every flour behaves differently and you may be thinking that you should add more water. Try to avoid that as it can lead to a rubbery bottom in the bread.
The end result should be quite moist and very sticky. Once you found flour brands you like you will be able to confirm the correct amount of water to suit your ingredients. If the loaf has a rubbery bottom that looks undercooked, you used too much water...with the ingredients in this recipe I did not add any extra water.
click on images below to enlarge
USE BAKING PAPER
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I have decided to always use baking paper, it is just safer and you can easily lift the bread out of the tin
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I cut 2 rectangles to avoid having the corners crushed up
FILL THE BAKING TIN AND LET THE BREAD RISE
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line the baking tin with baking paper and fill it with the dough
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use the back of a wet spoon to flatten the dough, keep spoon wet when flattening the top
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once flat I drizzle a little olive oil onto the bread, and spread it with a spoon, which is optional-
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I let the bread rise in a microwave: heat a large bowl of water for 2 1/2 minutes on high before adding the bread
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remove the bowl of water, add the tin and close the door
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let it rise in the warm microwave for 20 minutes
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start pre-heating your oven at such time that it reaches 180 degrees celsius when the bread finished raising. I use the fan force setting
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put the bread into the pre-heated oven, in the centre
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bake for 70 minutes
Done!
Done!
I take mine out when it sounds a little hollow when knocking on the top and bottom, which takes 70 minutes in my oven.
Rest the loaf for 3-5 minutes in the tin before removing it and cooling it on a drying rack.
I let it cool completely, under a clean kitchen towel, before slicing it. When I bake in the evening I let it rest overnight. It is easier to slice when it has dried a few hours.
And I freeze 2-4 slices of bread per container.
The bread tastes delicious toasted, which means you can just take a slice from the freezer and stick it into the toaster when ever needed.
PROPER BLACK BREAD
In Hamburg we eat Schwarzbrot, meaning Blackbread. This is my glutenfree Schwarzbrot-
Guten Appetit!
Clean-up
It is important to clean your bowl really well before washing it.
I once had to call a plumber to unblock my drain due to washing my dough bowls in the sink and flushing the sticky leftovers down the pipes.
I now use fruit nets that I keep when buying bulk fruit and vegetables and if they are big I cut them into pieces. If you use your normal sponge it will be ruined after the clean up. The nets I use once and recycle them.
Pour some flour (I buy the cheapest white flour I can find and label it "cleaning flour") into the bowl, wipe clean and discard into the bin, not the sink.
The last image is the cleaned bowl, ready to be washed.