The secret to authentic Detroit-style pizza is all in the pan's surface area
In short: Achieving that iconic thick, airy crust at home requires more than just a good dough. It requires a mathematical approach to your pan size. By calculating the precise ratio of water to surface area, you can replicate the legendary texture of Buddy's Detroit-style pizza in your own kitchen.
The foundation of a successful Detroit-style pizza lies in the dough's thickness, which Adam Ragusea suggests determining by the pan's dimensions. The rule of thumb is to use 1 cup (237mL) of water for every 110 square inches (27ly cm) of pan area. For a standard 165 square inch pan, this necessitates 1.5 cups of water, with all other ingredients scaled accordingly. This dough is built using approximately 500g (4 cups) of bread flour, 1.5 teaspoons of coarse salt, and yeast.
The process begins with an autolyse phase, where the water, salt, yeast, and initial flour are left to rest for 20 minutes before kneading. Once the dough is stretchy and sticky, it must rise until doubled, a process taking roughly two hours. To ensure the cheese doesn't melt too quickly, Ragusea recommends cutting 7 oz (200g) of Wisconsin brick cheese—or a substitute like mild cheddar or low-moisture mozzarella—into chunks and keeping them in the freezer. This delay in melting is crucial for the final texture.
Preparation of the pan is equally vital. While a seasoned blue steel pan is traditional, an aluminum cake or sheet pan works well if coated with olive oil. After transferring the risen dough to the pan and letting it proof for 30 minutes, the assembly follows a specific order: pepperoni first, then cheese, and finally narrow stripes of seasoned tomato sauce. The sauce, often made from canned crushed or pureed tomatoes like the Stanislaus brand, can be enhanced with oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and black pepper.
The final bake should occur in the hottest setting of your oven, ideally using convection. The goal is to achieve the darkest possible browning without allowing the cheese to release excessive grease. In Ragusea's testing, this took approximately 15 minutes. Once finished, use a spatula to release the edges before sliding the pizza onto a board to slice.
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