Domino's old deep dish

[IEatPizzaByThePie]

I don't know how many people remember this pizza, but it was one of the best chain pizzas you could buy. Domino's introduced the deep dish variety in 1989. Unfortunately, they replaced it with "handmade pan" in 2012. Although the deep dish was a pan pizza too, it was always just called "deep dish." It was a tremendous downgrade when they moved on to the new handmade pan, as the two are nothing alike.

The old deep dish was special because of the unique crust. It was thick - about 1 inch. It had a deliciously tender crumb yet with a nice crispy edge from the pan. They baked it with plenty of herbed oil (some type of regular Italian seasoning) which made it even tastier, and resulted in a dark brown crust. The crust seemed to pair excellently with the oily cheese they used, too. It was a really good pie and to this day, even after having countless different pizzas, I've still not had anything quite like it.

Does anyone else remember this? I also wondered if anyone here has ever tried recreating it, though my searches have turned up nil. I did see a guy on YouTube tried to recreate it but it didn't look right to me. I grew up eating this and I would love to be able to make it, but I don't even know where to start since it has long been discontinued.

[ChicagoDwyer]

I do remember. But as a Chicagoan I can't get on board.

[IEatPizzaByThePie]

I do remember. But as a Chicagoan I can't get on board.

*bows*

WE'RE NOT WORTHY, WE'RE NOT WORTHY

[Rat]

Hey, sorry to necro post but I ran across this thread from a google search and I made an account here just to post this reply.

I have been trying for years to perfect a recreation of this pizza recipe.  Your tip about the guy on youtube (although I agree his result didn't look entirely right) did provide a couple more ideas for me to try.  I'm assuming this is the guy you were talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OCyq1YaULI
But if that's not the video you meant then I'd really like to see the one you mentioned.

I made a post on reddit asking for help with the spices on the bottom of the pizza, you can find that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Dominos/comments/8obugx/recreating_dominos_deep_dish/
The current recipe I'm working with is in the comments, but I'll just go ahead and post it below as well, but keep in mind I'm still experimenting.

Sauce:

1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes

2 1/2 cups canned tomato puree

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Puree the crushed tomatoes in a blender until smooth.

combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.

when mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and cool, then chill in a covered container until pizza dough is ready.

Notes on Sauce:

This is the recipe I found when searching out how to recreate the dominos sauce, but I usually skip the part about pureeing crushed tomatoes, and just use a whole can of puree. I also season to taste instead of following the seasoning instructions exactly, sometimes I use uncalled for spices, and sometimes skip called for ones. Lastly I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil.

Dough:

3 1/4 cups bread flour, unbleached

1 1/4 cups water, lukewarm

2 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon italian spice blend

Melt the butter.

Dissolve yeast and sugar into 1/4 cup lukewarm water

Add 1/4 cup flour, and blend well. Cover and allow to sit for 20 minutes in a warm area.

Combine yeast mixture with the remaining all remaining ingredients.

Sprinkle a work surface with flour, and turn dough out onto surface.

Knead for about 10 minutes until shiny and pliable.

Coat a large bowl with a thin layer layer of of olive oil. Place dough in bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature for an hour or two until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.

Lightly grease a deep-dish pizza pan.

Press the dough into the pan, allowing about an inch and a half to go up the sides.

Add the pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating once.

Notes on dough:

The pan must be perforated, after studying images of the pans Dominos used to use I found a pan that looks pretty similar, but the holes are two big and dough ends up leaking through when it's baked. To fix this I line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper that fits the perimeter of the pan. Also this recipe makes allot more dough than is needed and the crust ends up being very thick, if your pan is large enough you might not have this problem, but I've been thinking about reducing the amount of dough by about a third for a 10 or 12 inch pan. Also I mentioned that the bottom of the crust ends up being too moist, for my next try I'm not going to grease the bottom of the pan, or the bowl where the dough rises, there's enough butter and oil in the dough itself that it may be just fine.

My substitute for the zesty sauce is spread garlic granules and onion granules into the pan with a little bit of salt before putting the dough into it. Garlic powder and onion powder will not work as well because they are a smaller size than granules and seem to burn instead of caramelize.

Place the oven rack as high as it will go in the oven, this will make the cheese and crust cook faster than the bottom of the pizza.

Lastly use an even blend of mozzarella, monterey jack, and white cheddar. If you use just mozzarella out of a bag you will see patches of caramelization instead of the even distributed caramelization that is customary with professional pizzas. Alternatively you can get a whole piece of mozzarella and shred it yourself, this will have the same effect, but having tried both methods I prefer the blend of cheeses.

Garlic butter:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley (crushed)

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt the butter.

Use a mortar and pestle (or your fingertips and a small bowl) to crush the dried parsley into smaller bits.

Add ingredients to melted butter.

Apply to crust of the pizza after it has finished cooking using a brush.

Notes on Garlic butter:

This is to imitate the garlic butter that Dominos introduced at around the same time that they started phasing out the deep dish pizza. There was a period of a few months or a year where you could order a deep dish pizza and request that they add the garlic butter to the crust of a deep dish pizza even though they normally only do it for the hand tossed pizzas. I really enjoyed that combo, so I found a way to replicate it.

Only thing to make sure you do with this recipe is don't take the cheese out of the fridge until you're ready to add everything together. I have sometimes measured out all the ingredients and set them aside until the butter finished melting, if you do this with the cheese it tends to clump together into a congealed mess and not apply to the pizza as well as when it had just come out of the fridge.

[MisterPKM]

That picture doesn't look like the DDD I remember. I recall way less crust and almost a Detroit style edge.

[Chicago Bob]

Why not just try one of the many pizza hut pan recipes we have here?
You can change the sauce around to your tastes...

[IEatPizzaByThePie]

That picture doesn't look like the DDD I remember. I recall way less crust and almost a Detroit style edge.

That pic is of the deep dish but you might be thinking of the handmade pan they replaced it with. It's crispier and more similar to Detroit in style than the deep dish.

Why not just try one of the many pizza hut pan recipes we have here?
You can change the sauce around to your tastes...

I've done quite a few PH clones, including recipes from here. Those aren't the same. For one thing, Domino's deep dish included malted barley syrup.

[tennisplayer]

As far as I remember, the pan dough came in boxes, it was par-baked to get the shape right, but was neutral color, just dough color. Then maybe garlic-butter sauce/oil that would be slathered on, all around the dough. Then, possibly add the toppings, then cheesed.

[pydpypr]

The original Dominos deep dish crust, was a pre-made crust. One of the reasons I think they quit using it, was because it was an item that was made for them. It was not produced by them. I can't remember the name of the company that made them, but I think they are still around. I think there are pizzerias all over the US that use that same crust. I think the original deep pan from P.H. was the same crust. But now P.H. does not use it anymore either. Whenever we would get delivery of deep dish crust, we would have to prepare them. There was a sauce on the bottom, and I can't remember everything that was in it. But I believe it was a mixture of whirl, some garlic spice, and parmesan cheese. We would slather the bottom, and then slap a 10" or 12" round parchment on the bottom. Don't know if that helps. Talk later.

[IEatPizzaByThePie]

Domino's has long received dough from commissarys. As far as I know, the only type that has ever been par-baked is their thin crust (the deep dish was not). Dough is stored in their walk-in for up to ~6 days, pulled and patted into pans as orders come in. I also do not think their commissary was ever shared by other chains, and the deep dish dough was definitely not the same as Pizza Hut pan pizza.

Domino's operating procedures are somewhat obscure when you look into it but I'm quite sure the secret to this unique dough was the generous addition of barley malt, which is not typical for pizza dough, save for "quad city style." The challenge for me has been getting the ratio of this and other ingredients correct along with proper bake time and temp to accurately replicate the original deep dish crust.

[mathematics28]

I don't know how many people remember this pizza, but it was one of the best chain pizzas you could buy. Domino's introduced the deep dish variety in 1989. Unfortunately, they replaced it with "handmade pan" in 2012. Although the deep dish was a pan pizza too, it was always just called "deep dish." It was a tremendous downgrade when they moved on to the new handmade pan, as the two are nothing alike.

The old deep dish was special because of the unique crust. It was thick - about 1 inch. It had a deliciously tender crumb yet with a nice crispy edge from the pan. They baked it with plenty of herbed oil (some type of regular Italian seasoning) which made it even tastier, and resulted in a dark brown crust. The crust seemed to pair excellently with the oily cheese they used, too. It was a really good pie and to this day, even after having countless different pizzas, I've still not had anything quite like it.

Does anyone else remember this? I also wondered if anyone here has ever tried recreating it, though my searches have turned up nil. I did see a guy on YouTube tried to recreate it but it didn't look right to me. I grew up eating this and I would love to be able to make it, but I don't even know where to start since it has long been discontinued.

I used to LOVE this, especially for the crust. The new one is terrible.

[Spoon059]

I had a girlfriend in the mid 90s that worked at domino's, so I ate more than my fair share of their pizza. I remember her telling me that the sauce was a dry packet that I think she told me they mixed with water to make...

[02ebz06]

I had a girlfriend in the mid 90s that worked at domino's, so I ate more than my fair share of their pizza. I remember her telling me that the sauce was a dry packet that I think she told me they mixed with water to make...

You rascal you...     

[mathematics28]

I don't know how many people remember this pizza, but it was one of the best chain pizzas you could buy. Domino's introduced the deep dish variety in 1989. Unfortunately, they replaced it with "handmade pan" in 2012. Although the deep dish was a pan pizza too, it was always just called "deep dish." It was a tremendous downgrade when they moved on to the new handmade pan, as the two are nothing alike.

The old deep dish was special because of the unique crust. It was thick - about 1 inch. It had a deliciously tender crumb yet with a nice crispy edge from the pan. They baked it with plenty of herbed oil (some type of regular Italian seasoning) which made it even tastier, and resulted in a dark brown crust. The crust seemed to pair excellently with the oily cheese they used, too. It was a really good pie and to this day, even after having countless different pizzas, I've still not had anything quite like it.

Does anyone else remember this? I also wondered if anyone here has ever tried recreating it, though my searches have turned up nil. I did see a guy on YouTube tried to recreate it but it didn't look right to me. I grew up eating this and I would love to be able to make it, but I don't even know where to start since it has long been discontinued.

Have you ever figured this out? This was one of my all time favoirite pizzas.

[IEatPizzaByThePie]

Have you ever figured this out? This was one of my all time favoirite pizzas.

Of all the chain pizzas I've had, nothing really compared. Most people who talk about how bad Domino's pizza is never even tried it, or maybe even didn't notice when they replaced it in favor of "pan style" in 2012. I'm not claiming it was some legendary, godly pizza, but there's no denying it was one of the better offerings from any of the big chains since perhaps the PH Thick n Chewy or original Godfather's pizzas. And it was unique, so that's why I was interested in trying to replicate it.

So I did run a handful of test batches for a while. They were all good but I never did reproduce the original style. The key ingredient was high lintner diastatic malt powder, which is/was somewhat difficult to source (at least locally, anyway). That was how Domino's was able to produce such a uniquely browned crust. I ended up buying a bag from an online vendor and, long story short, I was only able to use maybe 15% of it before it expired since such a small amount is needed per dough ball. At that point, I just sort-of moved on rather than ordering more. I will probably revisit my attempts at some point, though - maybe when I feel like also making bagels with some of the extra barley flour, as well.

[kori]

Of all the chain pizzas I've had, nothing really compared. Most people who talk about how bad Domino's pizza is never even tried it, or maybe even didn't notice when they replaced it in favor of "pan style" in 2012. I'm not claiming it was some legendary, godly pizza, but there's no denying it was one of the better offerings from any of the big chains since perhaps the PH Thick n Chewy or original Godfather's pizzas. And it was unique, so that's why I was interested in trying to replicate it.

So I did run a handful of test batches for a while. They were all good but I never did reproduce the original style. The key ingredient was high lintner diastatic malt powder, which is/was somewhat difficult to source (at least locally, anyway). That was how Domino's was able to produce such a uniquely browned crust. I ended up buying a bag from an online vendor and, long story short, I was only able to use maybe 15% of it before it expired since such a small amount is needed per dough ball. At that point, I just sort-of moved on rather than ordering more. I will probably revisit my attempts at some point, though - maybe when I feel like also making bagels with some of the extra barley flour, as well.

you can store dmp in the freezer, then into the fridge

[IEatPizzaByThePie]

you can store dmp in the freezer, then into the fridge

I know, that's typically how I've always stored my flour and yeast. I think it just slipped my mind at the time since it wasn't an ingredient I was used to using in baking.

[rtb]

I worked at domino's in school 98-02ish. The crusts came in a box. 2 wide and like 10 high wrapped in a bag all together(20). The "seasoning" came in a half gallon jug. It was fluid out of the walk-in so definitely not olive oil, or not 100% olive oil. It was very thick and fairly cloudy, so maybe it was 50/50 or some combination of olive oil and corn/palm oil. It was definitely an Italian style dressing, but much chunkier and more concentrated. Like maybe 3x more 'stuff' than some grocery store olive oil. To prep we would pull however many out. Let's say half a box (10) and turn them upside down on the counter still stacked. Then take the dressing and pour some into a food storage container (they were white and like 1qt) and we would use a natural paint brush and brush all the edges(10) at once like frosting a cake. Then the top crust would get its bottom painted and put in a pan with a skinny aluminum pan cover. Then the next would get painted etc.

Obviously working at dominos forever I ate untold amounts of pizza. To be honest, I haven't eaten their deep dish since then. So maybe thats a good thing because my memory isn't tainted. Having said all that and having made hundreds of thousands of pies, I still make pizza at home almost every week. I also make a lot of bread etc. I kind of think that deep dish back in the day had some hamburger bun qualities. I doubt if it had eggs in it, but it must have had a fair amount of oil. It was very spongy. It was exactly the same coming out of the pan as when we prepped it. Nowadays I par bake most of my pizza's and they're completely different. My recipe is pretty basic, flour/water/yeast/maybe sugar sometimes. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some semolina in the dominos dough. Next time you have some extra hamburger buns make garlic toast with them. Its not the same as dominos, but its in that direction. Maybe part NY squares(semolina) and part hamburger bun. America's test kitchen had a semolina squares recipe maybe 10 years ago, look at it and work from there.

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/8256-thick-crust-sicilian-style-pizza

[rtb]

I just went through my notes. This is my conversion of the test kitchen sicilian squares pizza to fit a 12" cast iron pan. I made this recipe maybe 5 times but haven't made it in years. I think to get closer to domino's you'd want closer to 1/4 or 1/3 semolina instead of 50/50. Also I wouldn't use store bought italian dressing because of the amount of sugar. I think it might burn the pizza. Find a good recipe and make your own, just over spice it for pizza instead of salad.

12" Deep dish

Flour 127g

Semolina 135g

Water 156g

Oil 1T

Sugar >1t

yeast>1t

salt 1t


Put heat max and reduce to 450 when you add the pizza for 20-25m

[mzshan]

I remember our time in Kissimmee, Florida in the early/mid 90s when my father would get a couple of Deep Dish pizzas from dominoes (when coupon were available) that thing has edge to edge cheese, especially the cheese burnt around the rim, boy I am salivating just thinking about it.