Detroit Style Pizza

• NY Style Pizza Dough (63-70% Hydration)
• Olive Oil
• Low-Moisture Mozzerella + White Cheddar Mix (3:1)
• Optional: Pepperoni (cup and char pepperoni, if available)
• Red Sauce (see Festa Red Sauce Recipe)

Step 1

Prepare Your Pan - Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into your Detroit pan and use your fingers or a paper towel to coat the bottom and sides completely. The oil serves two purposes: it prevents sticking, and it helps create that signature crispy, almost fried bottom crust.

Step 2

Press the Dough Into the Pan - Place your 24 oz dough ball in the center of the oiled pan. Using your fingertips, press down and work the dough outward toward the edges. Don't use a rolling pin — you want to keep the air in the dough for that light, open crumb structure. If the dough springs back before reaching the corners, that's normal. Let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes and try again. After one or two rest cycles, it will relax enough to fill the pan.

💡 The goal is an even layer of dough that reaches all four corners. It doesn't need to be perfect — a little variation in thickness is part of the character.

Step 3

Rest the Dough in the Pan - Once the dough is pressed into the pan, cover it loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature. You'll see the dough puff up, fill out any remaining gaps, and develop a soft, pillowy texture.

💡 This rest period is important — don't skip it. It's what gives Detroit style its airy interior. Use this time to prep your sauce and get your Festa Oven warming up.

Step 4

Pre-heat Festa Pizza Oven - Turn on your Festa Oven with the bottom burner on the high setting and the top burner on the low-mid setting and preheat for 15 to 20 minutes. You want the stone to reach 500–600°F before anything goes in. Use an infrared thermometer (if you have one) to check the stone surface directly — not just the ambient air temperature of the oven. The stone transfers heat directly into the pan, which is what produces the crispy, lacquered bottom crust Detroit is known for. Don't rush this step.

💡 If it's cold outside, let the oven reach 650-700 °F. You'll turn the top burner off when you are baking your pizza, and the oven's temperature should drop into the preferred baking range.

Step 5

Par Bake the Dough - Before any toppings go on, you're going to par (partial) bake the dough first. This is the step that sets the Detroit style method apart — and it's key to getting that frico cheese edge right. Turn the top burner completely off. Leave the bottom burner on medium-high. The top burner stays off any time the pizza is in the oven. Turn the pizza stone rotation off and slide the pan onto the center of stone being careful not to touch the oven. Turn the stone rotation back on and par bake the pizza for 2 minutes. Remove the pan and gently press the center of the dough with your fingertip. It should feel firm and set — not raw or doughy.

💡 After the par bake, you'll notice the dough has contracted slightly and pulled away from the edges of the pan. This is exactly what you want. That gap between the dough and the pan wall is where the cheese is going to flow down and caramelize into the frico crust.

Step 6

Turn the top burner back on low if needed to ensure the oven's temperature stays within the target heat range (500-600 °F).

Step 7

Dress the Pizza - Now it's time to build the pizza. Work in this order: First — the edge cheese: Take your mozzarella/white cheddar blend and press it firmly against the sides of the pan, ramping it up against the pan wall all the way around. Pack it in generously. This cheese will melt down into the gap left by the par-baked dough, pool against the hot steel, and caramelize into that signature crispy, lacy edge. Second — the top cheese: Cover the surface of the dough with mozzarella alone or the mozzarella/white cheddar blend. Be generous. The cheese should cover the entire top of the pizza. Third — the pepperoni: Scatter cup and char pepperoni across the top of the cheese. Cup and char is the traditional Detroit choice — the edges of each slice curl upward into a little cup shape during the bake, collecting rendered fat and crisping at the edges. It's a crowd pleaser for a reason.

💡 Do not add the sauce yet. It goes on after the final bake.

Step 8

Final Bake - return the pizza to the oven. Measure the oven's temperature to ensure it's still within the target heat range. Turn the top burner and the stone's rotation off. Insert the pizza into the oven, centering the pan on the stone. Turn the stone rotation back on. Bake for 9–11 minutes. Check at 8 minutes. You're looking for: Deep golden-brown, almost amber cheese edges — the frico crust should be visibly caramelized and pulling away from the pan. Bubbling, slightly browned cheese on top. Pepperoni cups crisped and slightly charred at the edges. If the top is browning faster than the edges are caramelizing, tent loosely with foil and continue baking (but this shouldn't be needed given the top burner is off)..

💡 Remember: The top burner stays off for the entire bake — par bake and final bake. Strong bottom heat through the stone is what builds the crust and caramelizes the cheese edge. The Festa Oven dome holds more than enough ambient heat to cook everything through from the top.

Step 9

Rest and Release

💡 Pull the pan from the oven and immediately run a spatula or bench scraper around all four edges. Let the pizza rest in the pan for 3–4 minutes to let the crust firm up, then slide it out onto a cutting board.

Step 10

Add Sauce - Spoon the tomato sauce over the pizza in two thick parallel lines running lengthwise — these are called "racing stripes," and it's the classic Detroit presentation.

💡 Serve immediately. Detroit style is at its best in the first 10 minutes out of the oven, when the frico edges are still crackling and the cheese is still pulling.

Author

Jesse Pricer

Restaurateur & Founder

Jesse Pricer is the founder of Festa and the driving force behind the brand's mission: to make wood-fired cooking accessible, social, and genuinely fun. Before launching Festa, Jesse owned and operated his own restaurant — an experience that shaped everything about how he thinks about food, equipment, and the moments that happen around a table. After years of hosting backyard pizza nights, running a professional kitchen, and testing every oven on the market, Jesse set out to build something better — an oven engineered for real people who want real results without the learning curve. Every detail of the Festa oven, from the dual-burner system to the stone geometry, reflects Jesse's belief that great food brings people together. His restaurant background means he doesn't just understand what makes a great oven — he understands what makes a great experience. When he's not refining the next Festa product, you'll find him in the backyard doing exactly what he built the brand to do — cooking for the people he loves.