
Detroit Style Pizza is what a Trueborn warrior craves
If you have not tried it, you do not know what you are missing.
By Jaded Falconer, Published here first, July 12, 2024
Read or Listen to the backstory here: LINK
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Can you smell it through your monitor?
Essentials for Making Detroit Style Pizza:
Equipment needed / suggested:
- Baking and Pizza Handling:
- Oven: Capable of reaching 500ºF.
- Pan: A 10x14 pan. Search for "Detroit Style Pizza pan" online. I am going to say it many times in this guide, I use Lloyd's pans.
- Plastic Wrap or Pan Cover: To cover the dough while it rises.
- Pizza Removal Tools: Metal dough cutters/scrapers or spatulas.
- Suggested: Cooling Rack: Useful for cooling the pizza properly (more details in the "Lessons Learned" section).
- To make the dough:
- Scale or Measuring Cups and Spoons: A scale is highly recommended for accuracy.
- Stand Mixer with a "C" Dough Hook: A spiral dough hook can be used, but see the "Lessons Learned" section for potential issues.
- Bowl Scraper: Preferably plastic, as it conforms to bowls more easily. This is essential for managing the dough.
- To make the sauce:
- Blender: Optional, but helpful for blending the sauce.
- Saucepan: For cooking the sauce. (unless you choose to not cook it seperatly, and add the sauce before the pizza goes in the oven.)
- Ladle: For pouring the sauce onto the pizza. (if following the traditional Detroit Style or upside-down Sicilian method).
- To prepare toppings:
- Cheese Grater or Knife: If you buy cheese in brick form, you'll need to grate or cube it.
Ingredients: This is just a list of the basics of what you will need, the actual recipe go over quantities and steps.
- To make the dough:
- All-Purpose Flour: King Arthur brand is great and looks to be easily available, but any will do (organic or not).
- Water: Ideally refrigerator cold. (it makes a difference)
- Instant Dry Yeast (IDY): Keep it in the fridge after opening. (Do not confuse this with active dry).
- Salt: Table salt is fine; Himalayan salt can be used without significantly changing the taste.
- Pan Lube: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and butter are suggested. You can use other oils, but they will affect the flavor.
- Cheese:
- Young Wisconsin Brick Cheese: Sets these pizzas apart, seriously. It should look like mozzarella.
- Substitutes:
- White cheddar (variety depends on your preference for sharpness and flavor).
- A mix of mozzarella and white cheddar (e.g., 50% sharp white cheddar and 50% mozzarella).
- A blend of Muenster, Monterey Jack, and mild or sharp white cheddar.
- Experiment with different blends to find your preferred taste.
- Toppings:
- Traditional: Pepperoni.
- Options: Feel free to get creative with combinations (more details in the "recomended combinations" section later).
- Sauce:
- Tomatoes: Crushed.
- Tomato paste.
- Condiments: Basic (salt, sugar, dried oregano) and optional (basil, thyme, garlic powder, red pepper flakes).
- Premade Pizza Sauce: An easy, though potentially less flavorful, option.
- Brands I like:
- Tomatoes: Cento, Stanislaus Full-Red, or 7/11.
- Cheese: Tavolini Brick Cheese sold at Gordon Food Services is excellent and affordable. However, finding it might be difficult, if you have a local Gordon Food Service that carries it (their website has their stocked items per location), consider yourself lucky. If you look on their website and your local store does not have it, then you CAN ask the store manager for it. The issue is that custom orders often require purchasing a case of 6 bricks (in total, 36 to 42 pounds). Item code: 403579. Also, this is likely the cheapest source of Wisconsin Brick Cheese you will find. The online stores I have found selling lesser quantities, are double the price per pound.
Recipe:
Measurements | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Dough | ||||
Item | Percent (%) | Weight (g) | Weight (lb) | Volume |
Flour (all purpose) | 100% | 275 g | 9.7 oz | 2 cup + 3 TBSP |
Water | 75% | 207 g | 7.3 oz | 3/4 cup + 1 1/2 TBSP + 1 TSP |
Salt | 1.5% | 4.1 g | 0.14 oz | 3/4 TSP |
IDY | 0.55% | 1.5 g | 0.05 oz | 1/2 TSP |
Lube (for pan) | ||||
Butter | 50% | 14 g | 0.5 oz | 1 TBSP |
Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 50% | 14 g | 0.5 oz | 1 TBSP |
Cheese | ||||
Wisconsin Brick Cheese | 100% | 425 g | 15 oz | 3 3/4 cup |
Sauce | ||||
Crushed Tomatoes | 95% | 794 g | 28 oz | 1 Can |
Tomato paste | 2% | 15 g | 0.53 oz | 1 TBSP |
Dried Oregano | 0.25% | 1.8 g | 0.06 oz | 1 TSP |
Sugar | 0.5% | 4 g | 0.14 oz | 1 TSP |
Salt | 0.35% | 3 g | 0.11 oz | 1/2 TSP |
Toppings | ||||
Pepperoni | 100% | 40 g | 1.4 oz | 1/3 Cup |
Notes About the Sauce:
- Sugar: The purpose of adding sugar to the sauce is to reduce its acidity. You can skip this if you prefer. Adjust the amount "to taste."
- Tomato Paste: Including tomato paste is optional, but recommended. It will thicken your sauce, which is ideal because you do not want it to be runny.
- Condiments: Feel free to add or remove condiments based on your preferences.
- Quantity: The recipe quantity is for convenience. Each pizza should use 6 oz or less of sauce. The provided recipe makes over four times the needed amount. You can scale the recipe down if you want to make less or freeze the remaining sauce.
Optional Ingredient:
- Diastatic Malt Powder (AKA: Diastatic Malt Flour):
- Purpose: This ingredient is not necessary but can be used to experiment with enhancing your pizza. It helps brown the crust, provides food for the yeast, and can give the dough a more spring-like texture.
- Usage: If you choose to use it, add 3.0 grams to your flour in the bowl to incorporate it.
- Note: The recipe is excellent without it, but it can be a fun addition for those interested in experimentation.
- Whole Grain Wheat:
- Purpose: It will give your crust a more rustic chew, and a slightly denser crumb.
- Usage: If you choose to use it, remove 5% to 10% of the All-Purpuse Flour, and replace with an equal ammount of Whole Grain Wheat.
- Note: The recipe is excellent without it, but it can be a fun addition for those interested in experimentation.
Both of the above can be applied, it is not one or the other.
Step: Dough
Step: Pan Preparation
Step: Oven Preparation
Step: Toppings
Step: Dressing the Pizza
Step: Making the Pizza Sauce
Step: Baking, Removal, Adding Sauce, Cutting, and Serving
Conserving the Dough or Sauce for Future Use:
- Dough Storage:
- Follow the dough preparation steps, then transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a container with a lid.
- Refrigerate the dough; it will ferment slower in the refrigerator.
- Before using the refrigerated dough, remove it from the refrigerator at least 90 minutes in advance to allow it to come to room temperature.
- Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but always check other sources for extended storage guidelines.
- Sauce Storage:
- You can refrigerate or freeze the sauce.
- Remember to allow enough time for thawing the sauce before using it again.
Lessons Learned:
- Manual Mixing: You can mix the dough manually, but it's time consuming and a bit of a PITA.
- Double Knead Process: If you have trouble spreading the dough in the pan, consider performing the double knead process. Since the dough is very wet and sticky, oil your fingers to make handling easier.
- Even Spreading: When spreading the dough, aim for even thickness to avoid thin spots.
- Shredded Cheese: Shredded cheese works better as it lays down more consistently and is easier to handle.
- Greasing the Pan: The cheese on the edges will stick to the pan, so ensure you lube up even the sides of the pan before placing in the dough and cheese.
- Pan Types: Some pans are not recommended for use with olive oil, but this may not cause issues. Lloyd's pans are reliable and don't have this potential problem.
- Oil Types: Butter and extra virgin olive oil work well as lubes. Other oils can be used but will affect the taste. Olive oil crisps the bottom, and butter adds a delicious flavor similar to Buddy's Pizza.
- Pro Tip: Be careful not to burn yourself when removing the pizza from the pan. Seriously.
- Dough Hooks: Spiral dough hooks may not knead as effectively as "C" hooks, as they don't get under the dough well. If using a spiral hook, stop the mixer and mix manually with a wooden spoon as needed. The "C" hook is superior for this reason. Larger batches (for two or more pizzas) work just fine with a spiral hook.
- Cooling Rack: Always use a cooling rack to keep the pizza's bottom crispy. Leaving it in the pan or transferring it to a wood cutting board will make the bottom soggy.
- Bread Flour: Using bread flour makes the pizza too heavy. All-purpose flour is my preference and recommendation for a lighter pizza.
- Recommended Ingredient Weights When it comes to making pizza, I have a few recommendations. The only thing I strongly suggest sticking to is the dough recipe. You can experiment with it after trying it as is, but trust me, it’s a solid foundation. For the tomato sauce, feel free to tweak the composition to your taste. The amount of sauce is also up to you—personally, I like a lighter sauce, while one of my friends loves to drown his pizza in it. The same goes for cheese. I usually use a full 15 ounces, but you might prefer more or less, depending on your taste. My recipe is my take on getting as close as possible to Buddy's pizza. If you follow it, you should get a similar flavor. But if you find yourself enjoying the process and making pizzas regularly, don’t hesitate to adjust the recipe to suit your preferences. And if you discover any interesting tweaks or improvements, I’d love to hear about them!
Shopping Choices and Their Cost:
- Tomatoes: While you can use cheaper brands like Kroger and Meijer, higher-end brands like Cento and Stanislaus (7/11 or Full-Red) provide a noticeable difference in taste. If cost and availability are not issues, always choose Cento tomatoes.
- Cheese: Wisconsin brick cheese is preferred for its taste and texture. If cost and availability are not issues, always choose Wisconsin brick cheese.
- Where can I get wisconsin brick cheese???—You ask. I am going to repeat this incase you missed it earlier. Tavolini Brick Cheese sold at Gordon Food Services is excellent and affordable. However, finding it might be difficult, if you have a local Gordon Food Service that carries it (their website has their stocked items per location), consider yourself lucky. If you look on their website and your local store does not have it, then you CAN ask the store manager for it. The issue is that custom orders often require purchasing a case of 6 bricks (in total, 36 to 42 pounds). Item code: 403579. Also, this is likely the cheapest source of Wisconsin Brick Cheese you will find. The online stores I have found selling lesser quantities, are double the price per pound.
Equipment and Tools:
This is the equipment and tools I have and use. You do not need these same ones, but maybe find them online and consider them or similar products as you see fit.
- Stand Mixer: I have a KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus stand mixer. using a mixer is highly recommended. You can find good deals at Best Buy or on Facebook Marketplace for under $250 USD.
- Detroit Style Pan: Lloyd's Pans 10" x 14" Detroit Style Pan is the best choice. It can often be found on Amazon for under $50 USD. Other brands may be cheaper, but the quality difference is significant.
- Dough Containers: King Arthur dough containers are excellent for cold fermenting dough in the fridge.
- Dough Scraper: King Arthur plastic dough scraper is great for getting dough out of bowls.
- Pizza Removal Tools: Use metal dough scrapers to remove pizza from the pan and a large 16" pizza cutter.
- Cooling Racks: Essential for maintaining a crispy pizza bottom.
- Blender: A blender is useful for making the sauce. An immersion blender is likely just as good? Possibly messy.
- Pans: I am going to reiterate that Lloyd's pans are really, really nice.
Pizza Combinations Tried and Loved, Suggestions, and Ideas:
- Fistfuls of Lyran Pepperoni.
- Pepperoni.
- Wisconsin brick cheese.
- Tomato Sauce.
- Adder: Pecorino Romano grated over the pizza after the sauce has been applied.
- Adder: Add some Ricotta, fior di latte, or Burrata.
- Adder: Add Basil leafs or sprinkles.
- Different toppings: Add italian sausage and diced green peppers to the pepperoni.
- Voluptuous Honoluluan.
- Tomato Sauce first (over the dough, no need to cook it seperatly)
- Wisconsin brick cheese.
- Canadian Ham.
- Sugar pineapple infused with. (Take a pineapple, dice it, and boil it in water along with 50 grams of sugar.)
- Adder: Bacon bits. I mean, why not?
- Adder: Tajin spice. Maybe try first before commiting to covering the entire pizza in it, but the results will suprise you.
- Alfredo's CAB.
- Alfredo sauce (over the dough, no need to cook it seperatly).
- Wisconsin brick cheese.
- Chicken (paprika seasoned) and Bacon
- Diced Roma Tomatoes
- Caramilized Onions
- Highly recommended adder: A drizzle of bbq sauce (don't over do it).
- Adder: Cilantro.
- Different toppings: remove the bacon and tomatoes, and do not add bbq sauce. Instead, add onions and mushrooms to create a creamy Parmesan mushroom chicken pizza.
Even clanners will want to get into this kind of melee combat.
You might be picturing a very curvey and beautiful Hawaiian woman. This pizza is more so the enbodyment of Edmond Honda, from the Street Fighter movie.
He's been saving up to buy the new Austin Martin Fiver, Traveler edition.
- Substitutes and options.
Measurements | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Item | Percent (%) | Weight (g) | Weight (lb) | Volume |
Cheese substitute 1 - easy to find, a good blend that is not overpowering. | ||||
Sharp White Cheddar | 50% | 212.5 g | 7.5 oz | ~ 1 3/4 cup + 2 TBSP |
Mozarella | 50% | 212.5 g | 7.5 oz | ~ 1 3/4 cup + 2 TBSP |
Cheese substitute 2 - also easy to find, good blend of flavors. | ||||
Mild White Cheddar | 33% | 142 g | 5 oz | 1 1/4 cup |
Muenster | 33% | 142 g | 5 oz | 1 1/4 cup |
Monterey Jack | 33% | 142 g | 5 oz | 1 1/4 cup |
A fancier sauce | ||||
Tomatoes | 93% | 794 g | 28 oz | 1 Can |
Tomato paste | 1.8% | 15 g | 0.53 oz | 1 TBSP |
Garlic powder | 0.7% | 6 g | 0.2 oz | 1/4 TSP |
Dried oregano | 0.1% | 0.9 g | 0.03 oz | 1/2 TSP |
Dried basil | 0.2% | 1.8 g | 0.06 oz | 1 TSP |
Sugar | 0.5% | 4 g | 0.14 oz | 1 TSP |
Salt | 0.35% | 3 g | 0.11 oz | 1/2 TSP |
Red pepper flakes | 0.07% | 0.6 g | 0.02 oz | 1/4 TSP |
Olive Oil | 3.4% | 28 g | 1 oz | 2 TBSP |
Whole Grain Wheat - substitute 5% to 10% of the all-purpose flour with whole grain wheat flour for a more rustic chew and slightly denser crumb. | ||||
Whole Grain Wheat | 5% to 10% | 13.75 to 27.5 g | 0.5 to 1 oz | 1 to 2 TBSP |