THE ULTIMATE DETROIT-STYLE PIZZA
Download my Free Recipe Spreadsheet here to customize and scale this recipe.
INGREDIENTS
DOUGH
BAKER’S PERCENTAGES
95% White Bread Flour
5% Whole Wheat Flour
75% Water
1% Diastatic Malt Powder
2% Salt
0.5% Instant Dry Yeast
AMOUNTS FOR ONE 8”X10” PIZZA
125g White Bread Flour (1.0 Cups)
7g Whole Wheat Flour (3/4 Tbsp)
NOTE: If not using whole wheat flour, just use 132g of bread flour
99g Water (3.3 fl oz)
1.3g Diastatic Malt Powder (1/2 tsp)
2.6g Salt (volume can vary - check your salt container for conversions)
0.66g Instant Dry Yeast (1/4 tsp)
TOTAL DOUGH WEIGHT: 235g
I recommend 149g of Wisconsin brick cheese and 117g of sauce per pizza, but you can adjust to suit your tastes.
AMOUNTS FOR ONE 10”X14” PIZZA
219g White Bread Flour (1.75 Cups)
12g Whole Wheat Flour (1 1/3 Tbsp)
NOTE: If not using whole wheat flour, just use 231g of bread flour
173g Water (5.8 fl oz)
2.3g Diastatic Malt Powder (7/8 tsp)
4.6g Salt (volume can vary - check your salt container for conversions)
1.15g Instant Dry Yeast (3/8 tsp)
TOTAL DOUGH WEIGHT: 411g
I recommend 261g of Wisconsin brick cheese and 205g of sauce per pizza, but you can adjust to suit your tastes.
FOR ANY OTHER SIZE PAN
Use my Free Recipe Spreadsheet to calculate a custom recipe
OR, to calculate manually:
Use 1.58g of flour per sq. in. of pan area.
Once you have your flour amount, just multiply that number by each bakers percentage to get the amounts for each ingredient.
i.e. if you determine that you need 120g of flour, multiply 120*0.65 to get your water amount, 120*0.02 to get your salt amount, and 120*0.013 to get your yeast amount. (In this example, you would use 120g of flour, 78g of water, 2.4g of salt, and 1.6g of yeast.)
SAUCE
IF USING RETAIL TOMATOES (28 OZ CAN)
1 28oz Can of Tomatoes
3g Salt (volume can vary - check your salt container for conversions)
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
IF USING COMMERCIAL TOMATOES (~102OZ CAN)
1 102oz Can of Tomatoes
11g Salt, plus more to taste (volume can vary - check your salt container for conversions)
3 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
1 3/4 tsp Dried Thyme
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
CHEESE
Wisconsin Brick Cheese, grated (exact amount depends on the size and number of pizzas you’re making)
Available at some grocery stores and food service stores, but you can also purchase it online here
If you can’t find Wisconsin brick cheese, I recommend a blend of 40% Muenster, 40% Monterey Jack, and 20% Mild White Cheddar
STEPS
MAKING THE DOUGH
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients, except for the salt, until thoroughly incorporated. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Add the salt, and work it into the dough.
Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise until grown in size by about 50%. In total, it should take about 1-2 hours for the dough to grow by 50% but during this time, come back every 20 minutes to perform a set of stretch and folds (perform a maximum of 4 sets - if the dough still hasn’t grown by 50% after the 4th set, just let it rest at room temperature until it has).
Transfer the dough to your refrigerator to rest for anywhere between 1-4 days (2 or 3 days is ideal).
On the morning of baking (about 3-4 hours before you would like to bake), prepare your Detroit-style pizza pans by coating them in a thin layer of a neutral oil.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and divide it into the desired number of portions, form each one into a taught ball, and place it into its own pizza pan.
Stretch the dough to the edges of the pan (it will likely shrink back toward the center, but that is okay.)
Cover the dough and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes, then stretch the dough further to the edges. Repeat this process every 30 minutes until the dough stays in the corners of the pan.
Cover the dough and allow it to rise until it is soft and airy (about 2X-3X in size from when you removed it from the refrigerator), which should take around 1-2 more hours.
When the dough is about 30 minutes away from being ready, preheat your oven to its highest possible temperature, and set your oven rack to the middle setting.
Par-top the dough, first with a layer of pepperoni (if using), then a very light layer of cheese, being sure not to place too much around the edges yet. Bake for 7-8 minutes at your oven’s highest temperature.
Remove the pizza from the oven and top the rest of the way, first by placing down the rest of the cheese, mostly around the edges, followed by the sauce in a “racing stripe” pattern, followed by any toppings you are using.
Finish baking the pizza, still at your oven’s highest temperature, for another 4-5 minutes until the cheese edges are browned to your liking.
Remove the pizza from the pan as soon as possible after removing it from the oven, and ideally, place it onto a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before cutting into it.
MAKING THE SAUCE
Combine all ingredients and blend thoroughly. Transfer to a heavy saucepan or pot (ideally stainless steel), and simmer until reduced by about 25-50% (depending on the initial thickness of your tomatoes. You’ll know it’s ready when there is very little moisture remaining in the sauce, and you can leave a streak in the pan when you run a spoon through it.
The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before using.
LINKS TO EQUIPMENT
Detroit-Style Pizza Pans
8”x10”: https://amzn.to/3OjnTRs
10”x14”: https://amzn.to/3rZMNy4
Dough Whisk: https://amzn.to/3QR6dMy
Cooling Rack: https://amzn.to/3PEb2aR
LINKS TO INGREDIENTS
FLOURS
King Arthur Bread Flour: https://amzn.to/3QaR3D6
Cairnspring Mills Expresso Whole Grain Flour: https://cairnspring.com/products/organic-whole-grain-expresso?variant=36068610703525
MY FAVORITE TOMATOES
Stanislaus Alta Cucina Whole Peeled Tomatoes: https://amzn.to/40a5Gv8
Jersey Fresh Crushed Tomatoes: https://amzn.to/3qlzB5S
Bianco DiNapoli Whole-Peeled Tomatoes: https://amzn.to/3TSfDJc
Cento All-In-One Crushed Tomatoes: https://shop.cento.com/products/cento-all-in-one-crushed-tomatoes-28-oz
CHEESE
Wisconsin Brick Cheese at Gordon Food Service (Local Pickup Only): https://gfsstore.com/products/862452/
Wisconsin Brick Cheese on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QjswgW
If you do not live near a food service store, I would recommend looking for any whole-milk, low-moisture mozzarella that your grocery store carries. Grande cheese can also be purchased online here but with shipping and handling, it is very expensive: https://www.vernscheese.com/?s=grande+cheese&post_type=product
MY OTHER COOKING EQUIPMENT AND RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
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