Making Detroit-Style Pizza with Superstone® Stoneware

Photo: Kevin Bidwell from Pexels

June 23rd is National Detroit Pizza Day: "a celebration born in the birthplace of the American Automobile and Motown. The city that also gave us Madonna, the Mustang, and the first paved road [DetroitStylePizzaDay.com]."

National Detroit-Style Pizza Day

National Detroit-Style Pizza Day recognizes the square-cut pizza style first served at Buddy’s Rendezvous in 1946 in Detroit. 

According to The Nibble, who has their own Detroit-Style Pizza Recipe, 

"The style is known for its square shape and thick, crispy-edge crust. It’s very different from the pie-like style of deep-dish Chicago pizza. Detroit-style pizza is a descendant of Sicilian-style pizza.

It emerged in 1946 when Gus Guerra wanted something new for his neighborhood bar, Buddy’s Rendezvous. He began with a Sicilian pizza dough recipe from his mother-in-law, topped with the cheese and tomato sauce. He chose to use brick cheese*, popular in the Midwest, instead of mozzarella.

However, rather than using the conventional round pizza pan, he baked his pizza in square, blue, steel automotive parts pans—plentiful in Detroit (Motor City) at the time.

The thick pan with with sides allowed the cheese at the perimeter of the pan to caramelize. This formed a golden brown, cheesy crust around the pie: a crunchy goodness that made Detroit-style pizza different."

According to Wikipedia, "The recipe created a 'focaccia-like crust' with pepperoni pressed into the dough to 'maximize the flavor penetration'".

Detroit Style Pizza Recipes

Remember, You also don’t want to buy pre-shredded mozzarella. According to FoxesLoveLemons, "You’re looking for a block of whole milk low-moisture mozzarella cheese that you can cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Detroit style pizza almost always uses cubes of cheese, not shredded!" Check out their recipe.

Detroit-Style Pizza–– this recipe from AllRecipes has everything you need, yielding a 14"x10" Detroit-style pizza pie with only a handful of ingredients.

Superstone® Pizza Stoneware

While we don't recommend making a pizza in an automotive pans, we suggest you Use either the Superstone® Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza Maker or the Superstone® Deep-Dish Pizza & Pie Maker, perfect for pizza, pies, quiches, and more!

To make the necessary recipe conversions from a rectangle pan to a 11"D x 2"H round stoneware, use the Omni Cake Pan Converter.

Serve it Up

If you need pizza accessories for cutting and serving your pies, look no further–– Sassafras® has a wood-handled pizza cutter and a silicone-handled pizza cutter for all your baking needs.

Detroit-Style pizza looks really delicious, and even though Sassafras® is a Chicago company, we hope it turns out great.

Happy National Detroit Pizza Day & Happy Baking!