%% Category::<h1><span class="material-symbols-outlined">smart_display</span> </h1> %% <h1><span class="material-symbols-outlined">smart_display</span>Detroit Frico . </h1> Created: Wed, Jul 16th 2025 > [!cite] Where the name Frico comes from. > This is what Peter Reinhart calls the crispy cheesy edge around the edges of a Detroit pizza named after a classic dish from the Friulia region in northeast Italy ## Goals for this video: - Obviously it's to create a Detroit pizza that has as much of that gratinated cheese along the sides, like one big piece of the outer edge, because that's the best part. - I want to explore the possibility that the crusty edge along with the oily, almost fried, bottom, are the ONLY things that make a Detroit pizza a Detroit pizza. - Too many people are convinced that a Detroit pizza is either, "just another pan pizza", or that it's some kind of strict formula that no one outside of Detroit can make. - A lot of commenters have mentioned that the hydration level is too low on the two pizzas that I have put out on my channel. Fuck knows how they know this exactly. Or that it is too tall. - Cheddar. What's everyone's problem with this on a pizza? Especially one that really benefits from a sharper cheese from being round the edge and getting gratinated. ### How I'm going to approach it. First things first, I am going to compile as many Detroit pizza dough recipes as I can, and try and find a common ground as far as 1. Hydration goes and 2. The total weight of the ingredients in relation to the usual sized pan. I am going to then make a test pizza using a recipe that aggregates these criteria. This first pizza will be just to determine whether or not the makeshift "brownie pan" works at all, without using all the other tips I got from Peter Rinehart's book. Then make a properly planned, and recorded version if everything works out with the pan, but using the tips again. ### What I need to focus on. I shouldn't get all swept up in the arguing with people with what I think a Detroit pizza is and how people are wrong for being so tribal about this kind of shit and lean more towards the fact that the version of the pizza that I am making in this video amplifies the single thing that *in my opinion* typifies this style of pizza - The crispy, gratinated edge. I will use this note to anchor any research I make on the subject as well as the resulting dough journal [[Bucky Riggins|here]] ### For the script. Short and sweet, all that's needed is to highlight the point I am trying to make above, by way of stating why, for instance, Detroit pizza isn't just another, square, pan pizza. You wouldn't confuse a Sicilian pizza with this style despite the fact that they share the same shape. Rectangular. What really separates the two styles is the "cheesy frico edge" as Peter Reinhart calls it in his book *Perfect Pan Pizza* . ## My first and last Detroit dough recipes. In order, these two recipes were both used on the Detroit pizza videos on my channel. Below that you’ll find the relevant stats. After that will be the aggregate of the Detroit dough recipes from various sources and finally, the first recipe that I used for 3rd Detroit pizza video. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7HkxgKBAihg?si=FNpE2nsh6Q93v1gn" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> This video I used the following recipe: .12g Tsp Active dry yeast 47g Cold tap water 47g High Gluten flour 453g High gluten flour 210g water (iced water was called for in this recipe) 2.2g Active dry yeast 70g warm water (80-90 degrees F) 20g Diastatic Malt 15g Sugar 10g/ Olive oil 10g salt This makes 884g worth of dough, but in the video I suggested using only 650g of it. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fSF6asfHkJM?si=0u-DDwFKT-F33nNM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> This video uses the following recipe, HOWEVER! This recipe is actually just my so called all purpose, or "artisan" recipe, which I pointed to as a possible use case, as this video was about the different tips rather than making the dough it self. In retrospect I should have been a bit clearer. The formula below is probably enough to make 1938g of dough which is enough to make 3 pizzas!!! 300g starter 3.75g Instant Dry yeast 560g water 950g all purpose flour 30g gluten 22g diastatic malt 20g salt 35g sugar 17g oil ### So some stats from different pizza makers: Peter Reinhart recommends 454g of dough be used for his Detroit and his hydration clocks in at a whopping 80%. - He also says to dimple the pizza 5 times in 20 minute intervals, which might be harder to do in the setup I plan to use. - He also calls for a total bench rest of 5 hours. - 500 degree oven. - 8 minutes on each side (rotate) Tony Gemigani It's from this book that I got the recipe for my first Detroit pizza video and the - hydration is 61%. - He recommends a 625g doughball - a total of 2.5 to 3 hours room ferment, and to bake it at 500 Nathan Myhrvold - hydration clocks in at 70% - total yield from his recipe is 1kg but says to use half - says to perform a 4 edge fold after mixing and a 15 minute rest - then a 3.5 hours room ferment. - 525 is the temp. ### The plan then... I am going to use Nathan's for the first test. I am going to omit the semolina flour though. So I will be going for a basic ass bitch dough, with no starter at 70 percent hydration. [[Detroit Frico Recipe|Here's the recipe.]] | Ingredient | Amount in grams | | | ---------- | --------------- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | |