Starting my Detroit Style experiment

[damp1house]

Hi All,

After spending about a year working on a Chicago Deep Dish recipe, I had a Detroit style pie from Square Pie Guys in SF and fell in love.  I decided to try it myself and after doing some research, I realized I'm going to need to do some experimenting.   I don't have access to Brick Cheese and I'm very happy with my sauce from my Deep Dish recipe so I'm only focusing on the crust.  Here are the variables I'm considering...

CF Time:            2 day - 4 day - 6 day
Flour Type:         BF     - APF    - BF with Semolina
Add-Ons:            LDMP - Low Fat Milk Powder
Hydration Level:  80%  - 75%  - 70%
Kneading:          None  - 3-5 Min  - 8 - 10 Min

Any suggestions on other variables to consider I would love to hear.

My baseline recipe would be as follows:

Ingredient      Grams   Bakers %
Bread Flour   200          100.00%
Dry Yeast      3          1.50%
water      150          75.00%
Salt               5           2.50%

No kneading.  2 Hour Room temp fermentation with 3 stretching/folding (4-5 folds each) events.  1st after one hour and another two every 30 minutes before CF starts.  CF for 2 days.  Another 3-4 hour Room Temp Fermentation before cooking.

I had my first attempt a few days ago where I increased the hydration to 80%.  Results were as expected a bit too airy for my tastes, but over all not bad...

[damp1house]

Attempt #2.

Same recipe and process accept the following adjustments:

reduce hydration to 75%.  Result: Less Airy but still not quite where I want it.  May need less water or more (some) kneading.
added rosemary with Oregano on top of dough before adding cheese (previously only did Oregano).  Loved the rosemary add on.  This I will keep.

Next attempt in two days, everything the same as this one (including 75% Hydration) accept its a 4 day CF.

[damp1house]

I had two pies today, one was the same recipe as the previous post but with a 4 CF. (instead of 2)  No real difference in taste or looks.

I had a second pie that was a 2 CF and the same as the original recipe but 70% hydration and added 3 grams of Diastatic Malt Powder.  Also, I didn't place the dough in the pan for the Room Temp Fermentation this morning and when I transferred it to the pan just before cooking it lost a lot of its air.  Due to that fact or the added Malt Powder, the dough came out much less airy and too flat.  Taste was the best so far, so I think Malt Powder is important.  Will try it again transferring the pie directly from the fridge to the pan for the 3-4 hour Room Temp fermentation.  Oh I also put the sauce below for the first time as well.  Some pics...