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).

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.

Traditional Detroit-style TC Ranges:

• Thinner side: 2.7-2.8
• Classic: 2.95 (my default)
• Thicker side: 3.1-3.2

Key Instructions:

An overview is provided below; also see the Detroit-Style Pizza post.

Mix and Rest (Day 1):

Combine lukewarm water, yeast, sugar, and EVOO – let sit 10 minutes (may skip rest if using instant dry yeast, but not if you use active dry yeast). Add flour to the liquid mixture, and knead until incorporated. Let rest 1 hour, performing two stretch-and-folds during this time. Refrigerate overnight in large container OR skip the cold ferment and let ferment on the counter for another hour and then proceed to day 2 instructions.

Pan and Rise (Day 1 or 2):

Remove the dough from the fridge. Lightly oil the pan. Press cold dough into pan (rest 10 or 15 minutes between attempts; it usually takes me 3 tries to fill the pan). Final press and then rise until puffy (about 2 to 3 hours)

During later part of final rise, preheat the oven to 500°F, and if you have a pizza steel, place it on the bottom rack close to the oven floor. Position another rack in the center of the oven. Par-bake the pizza (ie, with no toppings, cheese, or sauce) on the bottom rack for 6-8 minutes until the bottom is just lightly golden. Remove it from the oven, and reduce oven temperature to 475°F. Add cheese, spreading to edges, and continue baking at the lower temperature on the middle rack until the cheese melts and the sides are brown/crispy. As soon as the cheese has melted, place aluminum foil on top of the pizza to prevent over browning of the cheese as you will need to keep baking until the cheese at the edges are crispy. Remove from the oven, and then add warm Detroit pizza sauce after baking on top of the pizza.

Note – 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.)