Detroit Style pizza attempt - need your insight

[OldGuru]

Hi,
I am looking for help in understanding what I did wrong in my latest Detroit Style pizza baking attempt.
First, instead of using a pre-existing recipe, I decided to attempt an come up with my own recipe based on my pan size and a pizza calculator (https://www.pizzacreator.net/)

From TF -> based on Diameter of the pizza -> find wight per ball

Per the Thickness Factor Worksheet and based on recommended TF values -> 
Detroit Style -> 0.13 -> D=10” -> dough ball weight = 297.7g -> 300g / dough ball

Recipe (based on pizza dough calculator):
345g Bread Flour
252g water (73% hydration💦)
5g IDY
7g Salt

Proofing: 4 hours @ RT of 70F (21C)

Expected 2 dough balls - 300g each.


Mixing/Proofing:
Mixed the water with the yeast first, then slowly added to the flour while mixing.
Mixer was on very low speed. After adding the water+yeas, added the salt and mixed for 2 min.
Let the (very sticky, wet) dough sit for 3 minutes, and then mixed at a higher speed till the mix was consistent (still - very sticky dough).
After that, removed the bowl from the mixer and did a few stretch and fold moves and moved it to a well covered proofing plastic container.
Let it proof for 2 hours at room temp and did a few more stretch and fold moves (still very sticky dough).
Let is proof for another 2 hours and then split into 2 balls, which I stretched into each pan.
Before splitting the dough I weighted it and noticed 568g instead of the expected 600g.
At this point, the dough was very sticky and I had to use a bit of olive oil on my fingers to prevent it from sticking.
I used 10” coated baking pans and ensured there was enough Oliver Oil on the bottom and sides.

Baking took place in a pre-heated (convection) oven to 450F (232C) for 25 min. (Per what I saw on YouTube).

The result:
Overall - very dry dough, which was much flatter than I expected (I was anticipating  about 1” (2.54cm) high dough after baking).
The cheese cubes did not fully melt and many of them ended up uncooked.

My questions:
1. Was my sizing correct? Is 300g per 10” inch pizza for Detroit Style sufficient?
2. Why was the weight at the end 32g lower than expected?
3. The end result was much flatter than expected, why?

Any help is appreciated!
O.G

[TXCraig1]

I think it looks pretty good. The crumb structure looks good. I think it's thinner than you expected because you used less dough than is typical. I think we generally see something like 5-6g per in^2 but you were less than 4g per in^2.  Something like 20-30% less dough than you'd see in a taller pie. You might try increasing your dough weight to 400-425g.

Not sure what you mean by "Why was the weight at the end 32g lower than expected?"

[OldGuru]

TXCraig1 -
Thank you so much for your reply.
I will definitely up the dough ball size to a min. of 400g next time.

Not sure what you mean by "Why was the weight at the end 32g lower than expected?"

Per the calculator - I was expecting the weight of the dough to be 600g while in reality I got only 568g (32g less than anticipated).
What can explain that? Measuring error or something else I might have overlooked?

Thanks again,
O.G

[TXCraig1]

3 possibilities in order of likelihood:

1) bowl waste
2) mismeasurement
3) left something out

I always make 2or 3% more than I want to account for bowl waste. You lost 5% which seems really high, so maybe a combination of 1 and 2?

[machada]

With that level of hydration and his repeat comments on how sticky the dough was, I betcha #1 bowl waste was the culprit.

3 possibilities in order of likelihood:

1) bowl waste
2) mismeasurement
3) left something out

I always make 2or 3% more than I want to account for bowl waste. You lost 5% which seems really high, so maybe a combination of 1 and 2?

[machada]

To address the dryness, I would recommend tweaking the cook time.  I cook mine at 550f for 13 minutes (not convection, and usually on top of some heated bricks). Usually get a nice crisp bottom and fluffy crumb.

Hi,
I am looking for help in understanding what I did wrong in my latest Detroit Style pizza baking attempt.
First, instead of using a pre-existing recipe, I decided to attempt an come up with my own recipe based on my pan size and a pizza calculator (https://www.pizzacreator.net/)

From TF -> based on Diameter of the pizza -> find wight per ball

Per the Thickness Factor Worksheet and based on recommended TF values -> 
Detroit Style -> 0.13 -> D=10” -> dough ball weight = 297.7g -> 300g / dough ball

Recipe (based on pizza dough calculator):
345g Bread Flour
252g water (73% hydration💦)
5g IDY
7g Salt

Proofing: 4 hours @ RT of 70F (21C)

Expected 2 dough balls - 300g each.


Mixing/Proofing:
Mixed the water with the yeast first, then slowly added to the flour while mixing.
Mixer was on very low speed. After adding the water+yeas, added the salt and mixed for 2 min.
Let the (very sticky, wet) dough sit for 3 minutes, and then mixed at a higher speed till the mix was consistent (still - very sticky dough).
After that, removed the bowl from the mixer and did a few stretch and fold moves and moved it to a well covered proofing plastic container.
Let it proof for 2 hours at room temp and did a few more stretch and fold moves (still very sticky dough).
Let is proof for another 2 hours and then split into 2 balls, which I stretched into each pan.
Before splitting the dough I weighted it and noticed 568g instead of the expected 600g.
At this point, the dough was very sticky and I had to use a bit of olive oil on my fingers to prevent it from sticking.
I used 10” coated baking pans and ensured there was enough Oliver Oil on the bottom and sides.

Baking took place in a pre-heated (convection) oven to 450F (232C) for 25 min. (Per what I saw on YouTube).

The result:
Overall - very dry dough, which was much flatter than I expected (I was anticipating  about 1” (2.54cm) high dough after baking).
The cheese cubes did not fully melt and many of them ended up uncooked.

My questions:
1. Was my sizing correct? Is 300g per 10” inch pizza for Detroit Style sufficient?
2. Why was the weight at the end 32g lower than expected?
3. The end result was much flatter than expected, why?

Any help is appreciated!
O.G

[OldGuru]

Thank you guys for your replies.
I am planning to increase the quantities (+3%) for the next attempt and to follow the temperature/bake time recommendation.

Overall, I consider this exercise a success given that it was the first time that I did not follow a recipe but rather used a pizza dough calculator to come up with the right quantities. I am already looking forward for the next time 

Thanks again!

[OldGuru]

Hi again,
I wanted to follow up and share the latest result of my recent attempt at the same - based on the feedback I got so far:
- Increased the dough ball weight to 425g (used +1.5% for waste in the calculator)
- Bake time was reduced to 15 min. @ 550F oven temp.

The result was awesome!
It was tasty, crunchy with a soft and chewy inside..
Below are some photos of the revised version.

Thanks again for all your suggestions and insights!
OG

[machada]

Looks awesome. Nice job!