Detroit-style pizza dough calculator with customizable baker’s percentages. Calculate precise ingredient amounts for authentic thick-crust Detroit pizza. Supports multiple pan sizes with metric and imperial measurements.

Note that I don’t use oil in my Detroit dough, although there is an option to do so if you’d like (it gives a little more chew, but it takes away from the lightness and airiness in my humble opinion).

An overview of the instructions to make the dough is provided below; also see the Detroit-Style Pizza post.

Make the Dough (Day 1)

Mix water, yeast, sugar, and olive oil; rest 10 minutes (skip only if using instant yeast). Stir in flour until just combined and rest 20–30 minutes. Add salt and knead 3–5 minutes until smoother. Rise 1 hour at room temp, performing two stretch-and-folds. Then rest another hour at room temp or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight for a cold proof.

Shape & Rise (Day 1 or 2):

3–4 hours before baking, oil the pan and press in the dough in 2–3 rounds, resting 10–15 minutes between presses (it may be easier to shape the dough on the counter and then transfer it). Let rise until puffy, about 2–3 hours. If your kitchen is dry, loosely cover with plastic wrap or an inverted sheet pan to prevent drying.

Preheat oven to 500°F with racks on the bottom and center. Par-bake dough on the bottom rack 6–8 minutes until lightly golden. Reduce oven to 475°F. Add cheese all the way to the edges (and into any gaps), plus toppings. Bake on the center rack at 475°F until browned and bubbling, 10–15 minutes. Once cheese melts, loosely tent with foil to prevent overbrowning while the edges crisp.

Spoon warm Detroit pizza sauce over the baked pizza, loosen edges with a knife, and transfer to cut. Racing stripes encouraged.

More Baking Calculators:
Neapolitan Pizza Calculator · NY Pizza Calculator · Pizza Topping Generator
Found an issue or have feedback? Please let me know here.

Technical Notes (Optional Deep Dive)

This calculator includes a 10% bowl residue for dough that sticks to the dough hook or bowl (this is rather high but since the dough is very sticky and wet – I find I lose a good amount). It uses a thickness coefficient of 2.95. You can customize both under the advanced settings if you end up with more dough than is stated in the outputs and if you want a thicker or thinner crust.

Thickness coefficient (TC) tells you grams of dough per square inch for any pan shape (just multiply pan area × coefficient (eg, 10 × 14 = 140 square inches; 140 × 2.95 (TC)= 413g (before bowl residue) 413g × 1.1 (bowl residue factor) = 454g total dough weight.

Default Baker’s Percentages (which can be adjusted in the calculator above):
Bread Flour (100%), Water (75%), Salt (2.2%), Sugar (1%), Active Dry Yeast (0.6%) (optional to add oil 4%, I no longer use oil as I feel like the pizza is much lighter and airier; adding oil will add chewiness and may extend freshness a bit.)