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Detroit style pizza help?

clownhair

Active member
The big thing popping up around here is Detroit style pizza. They are rectangular pizzas with thickness similar to a pan pizza with a heaping of cheese on the edge that creates a rim of crunchy cheese. I am wondering if anybody has a dough recipe and process for making these that they could help me with. What adjustments should I make in my oven (mm ps200 conveyor) to get a satisfactory bake? Thanks for your help.
 
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http://www.michigan.org/blog/guest-blog … yle-pizza/

I watched Shawn Randazzo make his dough at the Pizza Expo last year. I remember remarking how “wet” it was - like a step above being batter - and it had a long proof time.

In my mind, this is the closest match in the Recipe Bank: http://pmq.com/tt2/recipe/view/id_152/t … ish-Pizza/ Hopefully Tom will stop in with a better suggestion.

Depending on how much impingement you have going in that, I’m guessing a 10+ minute bake at 450f. I think that’s about where a place I worked at way back when that made a similar Sicilian Style pizza was dialed in. They put hot sauce on after baking though. I imagine that pouring cold sauce on top is really going to up your bake time.
 
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Having misspent my youth in the Detriot area, I’ve eaten my fair share of Shield’s, Buscemi’s, Green Lanten, and yes, Little Caesar’s…

Tho I’ve not made that style of pizza, I’d say it mimics in part, the way CiCi’s does their garlic bread…

A looser/wetter dough fully proofed then sauced/baked…

CiCi’s system is to pan the freshly made dough in a seasoned/buttered sq/rect deep dish…

Then in an hour or so, restretch/reform the dough in the pan, Saran wrap it & let proof another hour or so, then cross stack in the cooler…

The dough lasts a couple of days…

I think also a lower temp and longer bake time is important…
 
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brad randall:
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In my mind, this is the closest match in the Recipe Bank: http://pmq.com/tt2/recipe/view/id_152/t … ish-Pizza/ Hopefully Tom will stop in with a better suggestion.

Depending on how much impingement you have going in that, I’m guessing a 10+ minute bake at 450f. I think that’s about where a place I worked at way back when that made a similar Sicilian Style pizza was dialed in. They put hot sauce on after baking though. I imagine that pouring cold sauce on top is really going to up your bake time.
Is this recipe based on a 25# or 50# bag of flour??
 
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Jets and Papa Romanos are this “Detroit Style”. Dough not made with High Glutten Flour. “fried” pizza for sure.
 
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314:
Jets and Papa Romanos are this “Detroit Style”. Dough not made with High Glutten Flour. “fried” pizza for sure.
Are they just using standard flour or possibly cake flour ?? curious would like to try it
 
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I’m guessing that we’re looking at a “Jets” style pizza here.
Formula:
Flour (12 to 12.8% protein content) 100%
Salt 2%
Sugar 3%
Shortening 3%
IDY 0.5%
Water 56%
Procedure:
Put water in mixing bowl followed by flour, then remainder of ingtedients. Mix at low speed for 2-minutes, then at medium speed for 8-minutes. Target finished dough temp. is 80F
Immediately scale and ball for your size pan. Wipe the top of the dough balls with salad oil and cross stack in the cooler for 2-hours, then cover or nest to prevent drying. Allow dough to remain in the cooler for 24 to 48-hours. Remove dough from cooler, keeping it covered. Allow to temper AT room temperature for 3-hours, prepare dark colored deep-dish pans by oiling generously. On the bench, shape the dough ball to fit the pan as close as possible, then transfer to the pan, by hand, fit the dough to the pan, cover and allow to rest for 1-hour, refit the dough to the pan again, cover and set aside for 30-minutes, refit the dough to the pan again if necessary. Cover or wrap and place into the cooler for storage until needed. This dough is designed to be used cold from the cooler, simply remove from cooler, dress and bake. This type of pizza takes a longer bake at a lower temperature than regular pizzas do. Depending upon the type of oven you have, you will need to experiment with baking time and temperature. You will want to have a good, solid bake. The slightly richer dough formulation combined with the lower protein flour and long fermentation time combine to give this type of crust a very light texture, and the oil in the pan gives it an almost fried characteristic. We have found that the dough, once panned, will keep for about 36 to 48-hours in the cooler.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Tom Lehmann:
I’m guessing that we’re looking at a “Jets” style pizza here.
Formula:
Flour (12 to 12.8% protein content) 100%
Salt 2%
Sugar 3%
Shortening 3%
IDY 0.5%
Water 56%
Tom Im not that up on the flour protein content, could you tell me about what type of flour, I have seen different recipes for this using standard to cake flour?? The flour I use for my standard pizzas is bouncer premium high gluten flour. So if I wnted to just try this out first could I just buy what ever type of flour you suggest in the store & what type to buy??
 
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daisy:
Tom Lehmann:
I’m guessing that we’re looking at a “Jets” style pizza here.
Formula:
Flour (12 to 12.8% protein content) 100%
Salt 2%
Sugar 3%
Shortening 3%
IDY 0.5%
Water 56%
Tom Im not that up on the flour protein content, could you tell me about what type of flour, I have seen different recipes for this using standard to cake flour?? The flour I use for my standard pizzas is bouncer premium high gluten flour. So if I wnted to just try this out first could I just buy what ever type of flour you suggest in the store & what type to buy??
Im sure Tom will let you know for sure, but if your buying bay state milling flour then I believe the Winona flour has this protein range.
 
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Patriot'sPizza:
Saying Jet’s Pizza is Detroit pizza is like saying Domino’s pizza is like Lombardi’s pizza…lol…
Since Jets and Papa Romanos are 100% that style I am guessing you have never had Lombardi’s…It is truly not very popular outside of Michigan though.
 
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Just sayin’ 314…Jets’s/PR are not indicative of the Indy Detroit pizza shops, like Buscemi’s/Shields/Green Lantern…(tho its been 20+ years…)

Jet’s have pulled out of some markets here in FL and some have recently returned as well…

I’m not even a fan of most brick/coal/wood fired pizza joints…indies are my choice & I really prefer my own!
 
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I know I’m going to get into trouble for doing this, but lets toss caution to the wind for a moment. Some of the bag names that would meet this protein specification are as follows:
Springup; Majestic; Rex Royal; Washburn’s; Full Strength; Morbread; Mondako; Progressive Baker Qualitate.
Sorry if I left anyone out , I’m sure I did.
To use these bag names, just ask your flour supplier if he has a flour comparable to one of these, not better, comparable and you should be set to go.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Patriot'sPizza:
Just sayin’ 314…Jets’s/PR are not indicative of the Indy Detroit pizza shops, like Buscemi’s/Shields/Green Lantern…(tho its been 20+ years…)
Sorry - i had some personal baggage in my reply. 😃 Recent changes with the Franchise system I am with - Franchisor has changed hands and the new “owners” own several small regional chains, one of which is Papa Romanos (Papa’s Pizza 2 Go and Breadeaux Pizza as well).
 
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None of these recipes are even close to Detroit style. We have been making Detroit style with a slight variation of the pan used since the 50’s. We use bun pans.

I won’t give you a recipe but I will say that the oil content is much higher than 3%. You don’t make “balls” out of the dough. You make squares. You certainly don’t put the dough in a cooler either. That would ruin the taste.

It is alot of work but the taste has gotten us over 50 years of great business. We go through 1,000lbs of flour Tuesday-Sunday in a town of only 2,500 people. People come from towns 20 miles away!
 
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I agree with Pizza of the Month that the recipes mentioned above are not for the Detroit style pizza. But a square pizza and a Detroit-style square pizza are not necessarily synonymous. The Detroit-style pizza started with Buddy’s in 1946. Their dough is a 1-2 hour dough, made several times a day, and includes no oil or other fat in the dough, although oil is used in the pans (blue steel pans). They use a Wisconsin brick cheese, although other cheeses have been used by other Detroit-style pizzerias, including mozzarella, Jack, and white cheddar cheese. I am not aware of Provolone being used by Detroit-area square pizzerias although there is no reason why it can’t be used. Also characteristic of the Detroit-style pizza is that the cheese is pushed up against the sides of the pans so that it caramelizes and forms a crispy character that is considered highly desirable, along with the crispy bottom crust because of the way that the crust “fries” in the oil. Also, for pepperoni pizza, the pepperoni slices are placed under the cheese, although they will put them on top if ordered as such. Typically, the inside of the finished crust is light and airy, suggesting a high hydration value.

Jet’s does not promote its square pizzas as being a Detroit style but the company started in Michigan (in 1976) and its pizzas have many characteristics of the Detroit style. Their dough is a same-day dough although some franchisees hold any unused dough overnight in the cooler for next day use. Jet’s does not use any oil in the dough, only in the pans, and they push the cheese (mozzarella) up against the walls of the pans to get the caramelized cheese effect. They put pepperoni slices on top of the cheese. Jet’s uses sugar in the dough. (Buddy’s does not.)

For a discussion of the classic Detroit style pizzas and their current proponents, see http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=35487. For Jet’s version, see http://jetspizza.com/menu/item/37. For an out-of-state Detroit version (Texas), see http://via313.com/.

PN
 
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pizzanerd:
I agree with Pizza of the Month that the recipes mentioned above are not for the Detroit style pizza. But a square pizza and a Detroit-style square pizza are not necessarily synonymous. The Detroit-style pizza started with Buddy’s in 1946. Their dough is a 1-2 hour dough, made several times a day, and includes no oil or other fat in the dough, although oil is used in the pans (blue steel pans). They use a Wisconsin brick cheese, although other cheeses have been used by other Detroit-style pizzerias, including mozzarella, Jack, and white cheddar cheese. I am not aware of Provolone being used by Detroit-area square pizzerias although there is no reason why it can’t be used. Also characteristic of the Detroit-style pizza is that the cheese is pushed up against the sides of the pans so that it caramelizes and forms a crispy character that is considered highly desirable, along with the crispy bottom crust because of the way that the crust “fries” in the oil. Also, for pepperoni pizza, the pepperoni slices are placed under the cheese, although they will put them on top if ordered as such. Typically, the inside of the finished crust is light and airy, suggesting a high hydration value.

Jet’s does not promote its square pizzas as being a Detroit style but the company started in Michigan (in 1976) and its pizzas have many characteristics of the Detroit style. Their dough is a same-day dough although some franchisees hold any unused dough overnight in the cooler for next day use. Jet’s does not use any oil in the dough, only in the pans, and they push the cheese (mozzarella) up against the walls of the pans to get the caramelized cheese effect. They put pepperoni slices on top of the cheese. Jet’s uses sugar in the dough. (Buddy’s does not.)

For a discussion of the classic Detroit style pizzas and their current proponents, see LTHForum.com - A tour of Detroit-style Pizza. For Jet’s version, see http://jetspizza.com/menu/item/37. For an out-of-state Detroit version (Texas), see http://via313.com/.

PN

Awesome post! That is the same way PR does it too.
 
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If anyone is interested, on Pizza Making there is a thread about Detroit style pizzas. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index. … 783.0.html At Reply 199 PizzaHog gives his formulation. http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index. … l#msg92963

This is where I am currently working on a Buddy’s clone in my home oven and at my small pizza stand. My hydration is about 70%.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index. … #msg222650 and other posts on that thread.

I am really liking Detroit style pizzas.
 
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