Make Crispy Detroit-Style Pizza At Home With This Common Pan

There's a lot to love about the Detroit-style pizza, and there are numerous things that make this pizza unique from other styles of pizza. It's made deep dish-style, which means you'll get a thick, chewy crust that's more reminiscent of focaccia than a New Haven-style pizza. Next, the only cheese that should be used for a Detroit, of course, is brick cheese. It melts and performs the perfect caramelized coating right to the edge of the pan, which gives the pie its delectably oily flavor and slight char on the edges. When you cap it off with a cooked tomato sauce spread thick on top of the slices, it's nothing short of the perfect bite.

You won't have to travel to the Motor City (or even your local pizzeria) to get your hands on a slice with this handy and easy Detroit-style deep-dish pizza recipe from Tasting Table. If you want to try it yourself, though, there's one pan you'll need to have on hand: a rectangular metal baking pan. Historically, the Detroit-style pie is made in leftover auto parts pans, which were, at one time, plentiful in America's automobile capital. But rectangular baking pans (including cake pans) are likely something that most home bakers and cooks have stuffed in a cupboard somewhere. They'll make a suitable replacement for this tasty pizza recipe, but there are some other things you'll need to keep in mind. 

The pan is one of the most integral parts of the Detroit pizza. At one point, most Detroit-style pizza pans on the market were made with steel, which gave them a heavy, sturdy makeup. Since these pans were made with steel, the oils from the pizza would stay in the pan and act as a non-stick coating for future bakes. However, the market has started to offer more lightweight options for Detroit-style pizza customers in the form of durable aluminum pans.

The one difference you will notice between the Detroit-style pizza pans on the market (including from top brands like LloydPans) is that the specialty-made ones are dark in color — thanks to the anodizing process. For a cake, you'll want to avoid using a dark pan, as it can attract too much heat and brown your cakes too fast. But, for Detroit, that extra boost from the dark pan is what you need to get the proper caramelization and perfectly crispy edges. 

Anodized aluminum doesn't just give you a better color and that iconic frico crust on your Detroit-style pie. The coating will also stave off sticking. So, if you go with an uncoated aluminum pan, you'll need to use a ton of oil to prevent stickage — and be prepared to settle for a less crispy edge. Who knows, once you try this recipe, you may decide that you're ready to go all-in and buy yourself an anodized aluminum pan for future Detroit pies.