5 Tips to Make the Best Detroit-Style Pizza at Home

Italian immigrant Gus Guerra invented the first Detroit-style pizza in 1946 to add new foods to the menu of his neighborhood bar, Buddy’s Rendezvous. Hoping to capture the Sicilian-style pies he remembered as a child, Guerra created the signature thick-crust, crispy-edge pizza in a rectangular blue steel pan, and the rest, as they say, is history. Detroit insiders have been eating the signature square pizza for nearly 80 years.

But it wasn’t until Shawn Randazzo, owner of Cloverleaf Pizza, entered his pie into the 2012 International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas that the rest of the country took notice of this new cheesy wonder. Today, everyone from local pizzerias to national chains like Jet’s Pizza and Little Caesar’s are making Detroit-style pizza. You can even get it frozen at your local grocery store, but if you want to make this Michigander favorite from scratch, there are a few tips to keep in mind.

New York pizza is known for its crispy but foldable crust, Neapolitan-style pizza is much smaller and has simpler ingredients, and Chicago-style pizza is the exact opposite, a thick, deep pie where a slice is more than a meal . Although Detroit-style pizza has other distinctive features, its most distinctive feature is the dark, rectangular shape in which it is baked.

It seems all too obvious that the city where our nation’s automotive industry was born would offer a pizza baked in a blue steel pan commonly used to disinfect auto parts in manufacturing plants. Because it can withstand high temperatures, it is the perfect vehicle for creating Detroit pizza’s signature crispy crust, deep-fried in olive oil and cheese fat.

If you want to enjoy the most authentic experience without taking a plane to Detroit, consider purchasing an anodized steel skillet online. But you can get closer with a 12-inch cast iron skillet or a few 8-inch square metal cake pans.

Similar to the Sicilian-style pizza that Gus Guerra tried to replicate, the Detroit-style pizza has a chewy, thick, focaccia-like crust with a crispy outside and an airy crumb. Since you want the dough to be strong, it’s best to start with bread flour, which is considered a “stronger” flour than all-purpose flour. It also has a higher protein content, which aids gluten development and results in a stretchier, chewier crumb. Another factor to consider is moisture content.

The amount of water used in your pizza dough (in other words, the hydration) affects the outcome of your dough. Low hydration means a denser crust, while high hydration results in a lighter crust with holes, more open crust, and a crispier crust. In his recreation of the Detroit classic, chef Kenji López-Alt uses 75% hydration, meaning ¾ of his dough recipe is water (i.e. 300 grams of bread flour to 220 grams of water). He also recommends letting the dough rest for ten minutes after mixing. This method is called autolysis and allows the flour to become fully hydrated. This makes it easier for gluten to form during kneading.

Because we value authenticity, a Detroit-style pizza wouldn’t be complete without Wisconsin Brick Cheese. Brick cheese is a semi-cured cow’s milk cheese and gets its name from the way it was traditionally formed: it was pressed between two bricks to allow the whey to come out. The younger types of brick cheese have a high fat content and a mild buttery taste. Plus, it melts exceptionally well, making it the perfect candidate for making the crispiest grilled cheese sandwich—or Detroit-style pizza.

If you don’t live near Wisconsin or can’t find Brick cheese at your local cheesemongers or specialty supermarkets, you can always order Wisconsin Brick cheese online. However, some recipes claim that you can get by with a 50/50 mix of low-moisture mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheese, but it is still recommended to dice or slice the cheese yourself since pre-shredded cheese contains anti-clumping compounds will hinder the sticky-gooey melting factor you’re looking for.

A good pizza sauce should be simple and thick so the crust doesn’t get soggy, and Detroit-style pizza is no different. Spices include (but are not limited to) fresh garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes. However, be sure to use crushed tomatoes—either a good canned version like Cento or San Marzanos—or peel and mash them yourself in a food mill or processor. A key ingredient in Detroit-style pizza sauce is granulated garlic or garlic powder and onion powder. Without it it just doesn’t taste good.

After sautéing the spices in good olive oil and adding the crushed tomatoes and granulated garlic, you should simmer the sauce for at least half an hour. You want the sauce to reduce until it’s nice and thick. It’s up to you whether or not you add sugar to your tomato sauce, a technique used to reduce the acidity of tomatoes, but we won’t argue about whether that’s taboo or not.

Finally, Detroit-style pizza is layered in a specific way to achieve maximum flavor and a crispy crust. After adding the well-oiled batter to the pan, you’ll be tempted to add the sauce, but don’t give in! The first ingredient after the dough should be the meaty toppings, such as: B. thick-sliced ​​Old World pepperoni, which you cut yourself for the optimal shape. Next comes the diced cheese. Make sure all edges are well lined, as the fat from the cheese provides the crispy, fried crust that Detroit-style pizza is known for. Then apply the sauce in three long strips, also called tire tracks, to complete the look and feel of an authentic Detroit-style pie.

Finally, add more cup-shaped pepperoni. If you don’t own a pizza oven, be sure to preheat your standard oven to the highest temperature, somewhere between 500 and 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on your oven, you’ll want to focus on getting the bottom of the pan hot so that the dough gets maximum crispiness without burning the topping. If you have it, you can try baking it on preheated steel or, if your oven heats from below, place the pan directly on the bottom of the oven.