Detroit Pan Pizza
Square. Caramelized cheese frico edges. Sauce on top, the way the pizza gods intended.
Intro
The most underrated American pizza. Square, focaccia-like center, lacy fried-cheese edge (the "frico"), sauce on top. Brick cheese all the way to the rim is non-negotiable. Sauce-on-the-dough makes it gummy — apply after the bake, or in the last 2 minutes.
Ingredients
Sized for 1 × 10×14-inch pan pizza (1 pan of 1 pan/batch · 1× batch)
note · 70% hydration.
note · 1% — more than Neapolitan because of the short timeline.
note · Generous — the bottom needs to fry.
Sized for 1 × 10×14-inch pan pizza (200 g of 300 g/batch · 0.67× batch)
note · ~3 cloves.
note · ~1½ tsp.
note · ~½ tsp.
note · Not a typo. Detroit sauce is sweeter than NY by design.
note · ~¼ tsp.
Sized for 1 × 10×14-inch pan pizza (250 g of 250 g/batch · 1× batch)
note · Order from Widmer's Cheese Cellars or Murray's.
note · Use this + cheddar if brick isn't available.
note · The King Arthur Baking Co. substitute. Genuinely good.
note · Boar's Head Ezzo or Vermont Smoke & Cure work.
The process
- ◆ DOUGH
Detroit Pan Dough
↗ - 1
Mix
Mix the flour 350 g, salt 7 g, yeast 3.5 g. Add the water 245 ml and the 10 g of in-dough oil. Mix on low until combined.
- 2
Knead
Knead on speed 2 for 5 minutes.
⏱ Knead05:00 - 3
Bulk ferment
Cover and ferment at room temp 1 hour.
⏱ Bulk60:00 - 4
Oil & drop
Oil the Detroit pan generously 20 g. Drop the dough in, flip to coat, press toward the edges. It will resist — that's fine.
- 5
Bench-press in stages
Cover, rest 30 minutes, press again. Repeat until the dough reaches the corners.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipA real Lloyd Pans Detroit pan (dark, anodized, 10×14) is dramatically better than a 9×13.⏱ Press rests60:00 - 6
Cold ferment
Cover and cold ferment 8–24 hours in the fridge.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipFor same-day baking, skip the cold ferment and proof at room temp for 1.5–2 hours after pressing.⏱ Cold ferment720:00 - 7
Warm up
Pull from fridge 1 hour before topping and baking.
⏱ Warm-up60:00 - ◆ SAUCE
Detroit Thick-Sweet Sauce
↗ - 8
Warm the oil
Heat the olive oil 13.3 g in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- 9
Bloom the garlic
Add the garlic 6.67 g, cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Do not brown.
- 10
Add tomatoes & seasonings
Add the crushed tomatoes 533 g, oregano 2 g, dried basil 0.67 g, sugar 6.67 g, salt 3.33 g, red pepper 0.33 g.
- 11
Reduce hard
Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook ~20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick and jammy — about 3 cups reduced to 2.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipReduce until the sauce sits up in stripes on the back of a spoon.⏱ Reduce20:00 - 12
Taste & cool
Adjust salt and sugar — it should taste noticeably sweet, more than a typical pizza sauce. Cool. Apply COLD or at room temp on top of the baked pizza.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipGoes on top of the cheese after the pizza comes out (or in the last 2 minutes). Don't put it under. - ◆ CHEESE
Detroit Brick Cheese Blend
↗ - 13
Authentic — cube the brick
Cube the brick cheese into ½-inch cubes. Do not grate — cubes melt differently and form the proper texture across the pizza.
- 14
Substitute — grate & mix
If using the substitute blend, grate both the mozzarella and the cheddar (or Monterey Jack). Mix together. For more texture, cube the mozz and grate the cheddar.
- 15
Push to edges
Either way, push the cheese all the way to the edges of the pan. The cheese-touching-steel is what creates the frico (caramelized cheese) crust that defines Detroit.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipA 50/50 brick + mozzarella blend is what some pizzerias use to extend their expensive brick while keeping the flavor. - ◆
Assembly
- 16
Preheat
Preheat oven to 500°F with a steel on the lower rack.
⏱ Preheat60:00 - 17
Cube the cheese
Cut the brick cheese 250 g into ½-inch cubes. Push them to the very edges of the pan — the cheese-touching-steel makes the frico.
- 18
Pepperoni
Optional but encouraged. Cup-and-char pepperoni 60 g layered between cheese and on top.
- 19
Bake
Bake on the steel for 12–14 minutes until edges are dark, deeply browned, almost burnt-looking.
✶ Pizzaiolo tip"Burnt-looking" cheese edges are the goal, not a mistake.⏱ Bake13:00 - 20
Release & sauce
Pull from oven. Run a knife around the edge to release. Drizzle three diagonal stripes of Detroit sauce 200 g on top.
✶ Pizzaiolo tipSauce on top, after the bake, is the rule. Sauce on the dough makes it gummy. - 21
Eat immediately
Cut into squares. Don't let it sit too long — the bottom steams if you do.
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