Detroit Style Pizza~Easiest to Recreate at Home
What makes a pizza Detroit style, anyway? Just like Chicago is known for deep dish and New York is known for thin crust…Detroit style pizza is known for its unconventional assembly. The toppings are put on in reverse, beginning with pepperoni (if using), then cheese and finally the sauce.
What Kind of Dough is Used For Detroit Style Pizza?
Detroit style pizza has a crust that is similar to focaccia. A high hydration dough, it is kneaded for several minutes before proofing directly in the pan in which it will bake. Lots of olive oil is used in the pan and there is some in the dough too. Two proofs make the crust light and airy, like focaccia.
Because this pizza gets baked in a very hot oven, the crust becomes crisp and golden on the bottom and fluffy in the middle. And because the cheese melts into the sides between the crust and the pan, it forms a crisp and caramelized edge—and that makes it Detroit style pizza!
What Kind of Pan is Used for Detroit Style Pizza?
Detroit style pizza was originally baked in forged steel pans that came from automotive plants. It was invented by Gus Guerra and Concetta Piccinato at a pizzeria in Detroit’s east side in 1946. You can read all about the history of this iconic pizza here. The pans’ seasoned finish created a golden crispy crust that hit all the right notes, and the rest is history.
Today these pans are manufactured just for making Detroit style pizza. They have walls that slant slightly outwards to encourage cheese and pepperoni fat to drip down the sides. And with continued use, the pans become seasoned therefore yielding a crispy crust every time.
What Kind of Cheese For Detroit Style Pizza?
Originally Brick cheese is used for topping Detroit style pizza. This has a creamier texture than traditional mozzarella, so it melts faster. This is one reason why the cheese gets cubed rather than grated.
However, Brick cheese can be difficult to find. The best kind comes from Wisconsin, but you can easily replicate it by using Monteray Jack instead. I like to use 2/3 Monteray Jack and 1/3 mozzarella because I still like the stringiness of the latter.
It is very common to use pepperoni too, so being the pepperoni nut I am of course I went to town. If you are a vegetarian, you might want to try my vegan pepperoni recipe–it really is quite good!
Tips for Making the Best Detroit Style Pizza
- DON’T ADD TOO MUCH FLOUR TO THE DOUGH To get a fluffy focaccia like crust, the dough should be quite sticky. Add only enough flour to make kneading it manageable, but it should still stick to your hands or dough hook a little bit.
- BE GENTLE WITH THE DOUGH WHEN STRETCHING IT OUT While proofing, the dough develops bubbles that give the crust a fluffy focaccia like texture. You do not want to destroy these bubbles when stretching it, so keep a light touch.
- CUBE THE CHEESE, DON’T GRATE IT Because this pizza gets baked in a very hot oven, cutting the cheese in cubes will prevent it from browning too quickly.
- SPRINKLE THE CHEESE TO THE EDGES This will give the crust that crispy, caramelized edge that gives away Detroit pizza’s identity!
- BAKE IN A VERY HOT OVEN The crust has to get brown and crispy on the bottom and the cheese has to melt to a generous golden brown, so bake at 500F/230C for 15 minutes.
- GIVE IT A REST Waiting 5-10 minutes before slicing will be much easier than slicing straight from the oven. So give it a rest!
The amount of sauce in this recipe was a little excessive for my taste, so next time I will use about 2/3 of the amount. But other than that, every bite was different with this pizza. And the crust was irresistible. I will certainly make it again and I hope you will too!
Detroit Style Pizza
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1¼ cups water lukewarm
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ teaspoons salt
Sauce
- 500 ml crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Toppings
- 2 cups Brick or Monteray Jack/Mozzarella blend cheese cubed
- 125 grams pepperoni sliced
Instructions
- To make the dough, combine in a large bowl the flour, yeast, sugar and olive oil. Add water and mix well to form a shaggy dough. Cover and allow to autolyse for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle salt over rested dough and dab a little water into it to help it dissolve. Stretch and fold the dough in the bowl several times to incorporate the salt. Continue stretching and folding the dough until you can knead it, adding a little additional flour if necessary. The dough should be quite sticky and soft, but not sticking to your hands too much. Knead for 6-7 minutes until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and feels smooth and elastic.
- Drizzle some olive oil in a 10"x15" pan with sides and place dough into it. Flatten the slightly and cover with a cloth or some plastic wrap. Allow to rest 20-30 minutes.
- While dough is resting, make the sauce. In a sauce pot combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on low for 45 minutes. For a thicker sauce, simmer with the lid off. Remember it will also thicken as it cools.
- After dough has rested, rub your fingers with some olive oil and press the dough to fill the entire bottom of the pan. Cover again and allow to proof in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 500F. To assemble pizza, arrange pepperoni slices directly onto dough to cover the entire surface. Now sprinkle with the cubed cheese, allowing some of it to touch the sides of the pan. This will allow the cheese to melt down the sides of the crust to create the texture this pizza is known for. Now spoon the sauce in 3 vertical stripes over the top.
- Bake for 15 minutes until the top is golden and the edges look slightly charred. Allow pizza to rest for several minutes before slicing.