Learn to make a authentic Detroit deep pan pizza.

Cafe Society
1

I’ve been searching for a good deep pan dough recipe for awhile. I love a good deep pan crust, especially when it’s been given time to properly rise.

This was just published on YouTube. Dough isn’t hard to make if you have a good mixer and bread hook to knead the dough.

Glen provides the sauce recipe and even a link to an authentic Detroit deep pan.

Bread makers, why does Glen say to stretch the dough into the pan until it snaps back? Stop, wait 5 mins and stretch again until it snaps back. Why can’t you just stretch that sucker out all at once?

I plan to make one next week using browned ground meat & onion instead of pepperoni.

Can the extra bowel of dough be saved and used another time? We don’t need two pizzas that big.

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I think our SDMB friend balthisar specializes in Detroit pizza.

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It’ll be interesting to get his reaction.

Glen does a lot of research for his recipes. I get the impression they visited some Detroit pizza places.

That’s way too much pepperoni for me. GERD I’d be miserable all night.

Maybe it would be a good idea to make both pans of pizza and then freeze one of them?

Glen cooked enough pizza for at least 6 to 8 adults. Imho

4

Wheat four based bread dough forms gluten as it is worked. By partially stretching it and then allowing it to briefly relax, some of the gluten loosens up. If you try to stretch it all at once, it will tend to do so unevenly and may just tear. Resting it briefly between stretching it will give you a more even crust that’s easier to form.

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Got it. Thank you Alpha

I’ll stretch the dough slowly.

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This was covered in a recent episode of Cook’s Country or ATK
Brian

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De nada - just let us know how it comes out.

Regarding saving the extra dough, you basically have two options, neither of which I particularly like.

  1. As soon as the dough comes out of the mixer, portion it into what you’re cooking today and what you’re going to freeze. For the stored dough, immediately place it into a heavily oiled ziplock bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Wrap it in at least two full layers of foil, label, date and freeze. Don’t let the dough rise at all and keep shaping to a minimum before wrapping and freezing. When you want to use it, allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove the foil and allow it to come nearly to room temp in a bowl on the counter before removing the dough from the bag. At this point you should be able to un-bag it and let it rise and form as normal.

  2. Go ahead and let it rise and form it just as if you were going to make both pizzas that day. Just don’t top the second crust. Dress it simply with melted herb/garlic butter, maybe a bit of parm and cracked black pepper and bake. Take the second baked crust, portion if desired, wrap, label and freeze. It stores very nicely this way and can accompany a wide variety of meals.

Either way, the texture is going to be a little bit off and the oil is going to want to pick up every funky flavor you may have in the fridge.

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I can’t get my head wrapped around the idea of having bowels full of dough. Ew! :wink:

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Huh. I’ve always been taught to freeze after the first rise. For me, frozen dough seems to work out fine, though I rarely make so much that I need to freeze. I also don’t use oil, just plop it into a ziplock back and it’s good to go. No foil, nothing else.

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This is more or less how my Dad taught me to do it. It works so I don’t futz with it too much. The foil is really only important if you’re looking to freeze it for months and months. Just the bag would be OK for a few weeks with minimal risk of freezer burn or the dough collecting da freezer funk. As for freezing before/after first rise, it may not make much difference. It’s just how I do it, perhaps for no good reason at all. If nothing else, freezing first makes for a slightly more compact lump in the box.

In the OP’s case, I don’t think I’d freeze it at all. Given the minimal actual dollar cost of a bowl of dough and my minimal freezer space, most likely I’d bake it as per option 2. I would then bag it and commit to using it in 3-5 days. Worst case scenario, it gets used for croutons or chopped and dried for breadcrumbs.

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Baking the 2nd crust sounds like a plan. I agree it can easily be used as bread later. Probably works well for BLT’s.

I may try a taco pizza similar to what Pizza Hut used to sell. Spread refried beans & taco meat on the baked crust. Warm in oven. Top with shredded cheddar, lettuce, sour cream and picante sauce if you like it.

I’ve made these with Pillsbury pizza dough from the grocery store. Pretty tasty.

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Here you go.

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The video in question:

Brian

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:smiley:

I’m drooling. That pizza looks and sounds so good. The crunch of the crust is the best part.

I appreciate getting more videos showing how to make this pizza. This pizza may become a regular addition to our table.

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Is Detroit-style pizza a new thing? I grew up in the Detroit area and have never heard of it, though I moved away in the mid-90’s.

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Nope. The style originated in 1946.

The signature style originated in 1946 when August “Gus” Guerra started baking his mother-in-law’s dough recipe at his tavern, Buddy’s Rendezvous. Legend has it that Guerra—out of sheer genius or pure practicality—repurposed blue steel pans that were used for carrying automotive parts into baking pans. He placed his mother-in-law’s fluffy Sicilian-style dough in the rectangular pan and lined the top edge-to-edge with Wisconsin brick cheese. After it was baked, Guerra added two red “racing stripes” of marinara sauce, the final defining characteristic of a good Detroit-style pizza, and the local legend was born.

17

I’m flattered that you think of me when it comes to Detroit-style pizza! I’m far from an expert, and I’ve learned a lot from a lot of people over at pizzamaking.com.

First, to address the OP, although I fear I may be late:

It will break the dough. The gluten will make the dough pull back into itself. Letting it rest lets the gluten relax, and you’ll be able to spread out out a bit further. Five minutes probably isn’t necessary, but his point is, it takes a long time to spread the dough without breaking it, and this might be counterintuitive from his video, because it’s a very high hydration dough, and working with it, you’ll think: this should be easy!

Maybe a few days. The yeast will continue to ferment. You can freeze the dough, though, and it should revive quite readily. Or you can halve the quantities.

The OP having been addressed, I pegged the guy as a Canuck as soon as he started mixing units, and looking at his channel, he’s from the GTA. If he’s ever in SE Michigan, I hope I can invite him to The Cloverleaf in Eastpointe (my treat).

One thing, though, is he uses volume measurements for everything; weight is much better. My preferred recipe (should be googleable) is all baker’s percentages.

The pans he has look exactly like mine, and yes, they are important. I got my at [url=http://roselliwholesale.com/]Roselli’s[/ur], but it looks like he got his online somewhere.

I’ve not found a good source of Wisconsin brick. I’m jealous that some dude in the GTA was able to get some, and I can’t. I’ll usually use some white Cheddar – mild – with a bit of mozzarella (not the fresh stuff!) and Parmesano mixed in.

Of his two pizzas, the most “authentic” is the second one. The cheese always goes directly on the dough, because the dough and cheese fuse into this awesome, well, fusion of bread and cheese. He also mentions that the second is based on a pizza called “The Detroiter,” which is my favorite when I go to Buddy’s.

For authenticity, sauce also always goes on the top. I give an out to Jet’s Pizza for this, because other than the sauce not being where it’s supposed to be, they do a damned good Detroit-style considering it’s fast food.

I probably won’t try Glenn’s recipe, but if I were to do so, I’d want to weigh all of his ingredients to figure out his hydration. The dough looked good, but you need to use percentages for repeatability. I’m genuinely curious where he learned his technique, because he’s doing a damned good job, and if anyone knows him, I’m serious – I’d love to invite him to The Cloverleaf – not Buddy’s – if he’s ever in SE Michigan.

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Huh. I wonder how I managed to live there for 25 years and never have heard of Detroit-style pizza until just now.

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Because it wasn’t really called that until somewhat recently. Buddy’s, Cloverleaf, and Shield’s all make that style and have done so for decades.

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I was gonna say, they probably just called it “pizza.” :slight_smile:

Somewhat similar to Detroit style in that it is a Sicilian-style pie (often with a crispy bottom cooked in oil) and often has a non-canonical mix of cheeses (white cheddar, brick, and even American can show up) is Old Forge/Northeast Pennsylvania style pizza. Old Forge is a self-proclaimed pizza capital of the world. One of the best pizzas I’ve ever made was using this guy’s recipe on Victory Pig pizza, located a bit outside Old Forge in Wyoming, Penn. Similar idea as Detroit style pizza, but with a more conventional ordering of ingredients, and with a good bit of onion character in the sauce.

I did finally get a chance to visit Victory Pig a few weeks ago while driving from Hershey to Binghamton. They had an interesting pizza called “pagash”, which is described as “pierogi pizza.” Sure enough, the darned thing tasted just like a potato, onion, and cheese pierogi pizza. You’d think it’d be carb overload, but I loved the darn thing. Crispy crust, no tomato sauce, onion and mashed potato-type middle, topped off with a layer of cheese.