Detroit Pizza Dough

70% hydration, bread flour, oil-pan ready. The dough that becomes a Detroit pie.

Time: 24 hr | Yield: 1 Detroit pan (10×14) | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 8 | Published: 2026-04-19

Detroit dough is the most forgiving dough in pizza. High hydration, no need to stretch round, no peel, no launching, no fragile handoff from peel to steel.

Just press it into an oiled pan, top it, and bake. The dough does all the work itself. The pan does all the shaping. The oven does all the cooking.

If you've never made pizza dough before, this is where to start. The success rate on first attempts is significantly higher than NY or Neapolitan. Once you nail this, you can graduate to the more technical styles.

Ingredients

Dough

• 425 g bread flour
• 298 g water
• 8.5 g fine sea salt
• 2 g instant dry yeast
• 13 g olive oil

For the pan

• 2 tbsp olive oil (generously coats the Lloyds pan)

Directions

1. Whisk dry. Add water + oil. Mix until shaggy. Knead 3-4 minutes, dough is wet and sticky, that's correct.
   You'll know it's right: Dough at 70% hydration is wet and slack, embrace it. Should be shaggy and uneven after mixing. After 3-4 min of light kneading, it should be slightly smoother but still very wet to the touch.
2. Oil the bowl, cover tightly, refrigerate 18-24 hours.
   You'll know it's right: By hour 20, dough should have grown 50-80% (more than NY because of higher hydration and slightly higher yeast). Surface should look bubbly and slightly domed. Tilt the bowl, dough should jiggle.
3. Generously oil the Lloyds 10×14 Detroit pan, 2 tablespoons spread around the bottom and up the sides. Transfer the cold dough. Press flat with oiled fingertips, pushing corner-to-corner. If it resists, wait 15 min and try again.
   You'll know it's right: Oil should be enough to coat the entire pan bottom plus 1/2 inch up the sides. Dough should swim in oil when first placed. Initial press gets it to maybe 70% of the pan, the rest comes with the 15-min rest.
4. Cover loosely. Let rise 4-6 hours at room temp until the dough fills about 3/4 the pan depth.
   You'll know it's right: After 4-6 hours, dough should fill the pan corner-to-corner, look puffy and bubbly on the surface. Press gently with a fingertip, indent should slowly spring back halfway. If still flat after 6 hours, kitchen is too cold; cover with warm damp towel for another hour.
5. See /blog/how-to-make-detroit-style-pizza-at-home for the full topping method (brick cheese to the edges, red top sauce). Bake at 500°F on a Baking Steel for 13-16 minutes.
   You'll know it's right: Pull when cheese edges are deeply browned and almost black in spots (the frico edge). Lift a corner with a spatula, the bottom should be deep golden-brown, almost fried. If bottom is pale, give it 2-3 more minutes.

Troubleshooting

Dough wouldn't fill the pan corners

Dough was too cold when you tried to press it. Press, rest 15 min, press again. The rest lets gluten relax. Repeat 2-3 times if needed. Don't force cold dough, you'll tear it. The dough WILL reach the corners with patience.

Dough was so wet I couldn't handle it

70% hydration is genuinely wet. That's the recipe. Use oiled fingertips, not floured. Oil prevents sticking better than flour and doesn't dry out the dough. Don't add more flour to fix stickiness, the high hydration is what creates the airy interior.

Bottom was pale and not crispy

Not enough oil in the pan, OR no preheated baking steel underneath the pan. 2 tablespoons of oil minimum, spread to coat the whole pan bottom. Place pan on a preheated baking steel during the bake, the conductive heat from below browns the bottom. Lower-middle rack.

Detroit pan stuck and pizza ripped apart

Insufficient oil, OR brand-new Lloyds pan that wasn't seasoned. Use 2-3 tbsp oil minimum. For new Lloyds: season it with light oil coats at 400°F for 1 hour, repeat 2-3 times. Within 5-10 uses, the pan develops a non-stick patina that holds forever.

I used a regular metal baking pan instead of Lloyds, results were bad

Regular baking pans don't conduct heat like blue steel. The bottom doesn't crisp the same way. Lloyds is $30 on Amazon and makes a massive difference. If you really can't get one, cast iron rectangular pan is the next-best alternative. Avoid aluminum and nonstick, both produce a soft pale bottom.

Dough rose for 6+ hours but never doubled in the pan

Kitchen too cold (below 70°F). Move pan to a warmer spot. Top of fridge, oven with light on (creates ~80°F environment), near a sunny window. Cover pan with a warm damp towel. Wait until visibly doubled, don't rush it.

Crust was dense and bread-like, not airy

Insufficient in-pan proof OR you over-pressed during the proof, deflating the gas. Full 4-6 hour in-pan proof. After initial press, don't touch the dough. Cover and wait. The bubbles forming inside are what create the airy texture.

Notes

Don't skimp on the pan oil. The bottom crust should fry-crisp in oil, not bake. 2 tablespoons minimum.

Nutrition (1/8 of the pan (one Detroit square slice, dough only)): 165 calories, 5g protein, 32g carbs, 1.5g fat.