Tim Griffin, corporate executive chef at Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, has been elbow-deep in flour for months, with the goal of perfecting Detroit-style pizza dough.
“Detroit-style crust has its own identity,” said Griffin. “It’s more like a buttery, slightly fluffy focaccia, and the dough has to really crisp up on the bottom and sides as it bakes.”
Detroit-style pizza, which is gradually making its way to other parts of the country, is characterized by its rectangular shape, edge-to-edge toppings and crispy, caramelized edges formed when the butter and cheese bake into the crust.
“I’ve taken deep dives into this pizza style before, but now that it has broader recognition and appeal, I saw it as an opportunity to introduce it to our guests. I’m all about introducing new news to Old Chicago,” said Griffin.
Perfecting the dough
The chain already offers several other pizza styles, including its original pan pizza, tavern thin, and a hand-tossed ale dough—all of which use the same high-gluten flour. But the gluten content was too high for the Detroit-style crust, so Griffin had to bring in all-purpose flour to create the focaccia-type dough.
The final dough iteration has just four ingredients: All-purpose flour, extra virgin olive oil, active yeast and kosher salt. To get the dough right, Griffin changed up his measuring technique—weighing the ingredients in grams instead of pounds and ounces to be more exacting. A layer of butter is applied to the underside before it’s placed in the pan to bake.
The pans were another SKU that had to be added to inventory. “We had to get the actual pans made by a manufacturer,” said Griffin.
Since the 80 locations of Old Chicago are spread across 24 states, the R&D team also had to make sure the dough would bake up consistently under different altitudes and humidity conditions. It was tested in Denver, Houston, Tennessee, Kansas and other states, and while the temperature, timing and proportions changed, the ingredients stayed the same.
Two key toppings
Brick cheese, a Wisconsin original, is another ingredient that differentiates Detroit-style pizza. “It has a higher fat content and tastes like a blend of cheddar and American cheeses,” said Griffin. “We worked with a cheese company in Wisconsin to supply a steady source.”
The last SKU he had to bring in was “cup and char” pepperoni. This is a thinner pepperoni that curls into a cup shape and chars as it bakes, rendering off fat and getting a little crunchy. “We went through many pepperoni varieties and products before finding the right one,” Griffin said.
Old Chicago prides itself on using ingredients without preservatives and additives. That means no dough conditioners, no anti-caking substances in the cheese, and sauces and other toppings made from scratch. That mission shines through in the “insanity” toppings—the final step in the R&D process.
Time to get a little crazy
During the R&D process, Griffin and his team tried a number of different toppings, many of which remain in the pipeline for the future. “The toppings are the insane part, and we really had fun with them,” he said. “We narrowed it down to 12 toppings and held two food showings for tasting.”
Five Insanity variations made it to the final menu launch earlier this month.
Photo courtesy of Old Chicago
Griffin had been working on a Texas-style chili to reflect his roots in the state. He decided to try it as a topping, and the Honky Tonk was born. In keeping with the Tex-Mex theme, he scattered the crust with pickled jalapeños, crunchy tortilla strips and cilantro, then smothered the toppings with brick and cheddar cheeses and drizzles of cilantro-lime ranch.
There’s also Da Meatball Shroom featuring a Madeira sauce made the classic way with a roux base, and scratch-made meatballs baked in the pizza oven. It’s finished with caramelized onions, parsley and brick cheese. The Farmer’s Daughter is spread with pesto sauce and topped with both brick and fresh mozzarella cheeses, grape tomatoes and arugula, then drizzled with balsamic glaze. It’s similar to a margarita pizza with a California twist, said Griffin.
Rounding out the five are Buffalo Cluck, a takeoff on Buffalo chicken. It’s topped with Buffalo sauce, brick cheese, blue cheese crumbles, chicken, pickled red onions, green onions and a drizzle of ranch. And the aforementioned Pepperoni—the most popular of the group. It’s covered with Old Chicago’s homemade pizza sauce, topped with the cup and char pepperoni and finished with brick cheese melted edge-to-edge.
To deliver the true Detroit pizza experience, Old Chicago serves only corner pieces with each pie. “Corners give you the perfect ratio of crispy buttery goodness in each bite,” the menu claims.
What’s next?
Griffin still has the rest of those original 12 toppings in the pipeline ready to go on a new Insanity Pizza. But he’s also looking at adding ingredients that reflect seasonality and trying out some high-end options, such as duck, he said.
“We’re also very focused on cross-utilizing ingredients already in-house, such as the Italian sausage and peppers that top our other pies,” Griffin said. But the one qualification for any Insanity topping combo is it has to be “crazy.”
Pizza is not the only category where innovation is taking place. Old Chicago is launching a new menu in late July or early August that will feature pasta dishes such as chicken carbonara topped with an egg and spaghetti and meatballs—using the same house-made meatballs that top the Da Meatball Shroom Insanity Pizza. Also in the new lineup are a kale pesto Caesar salad and several appetizers, including bruschetta, mozzarella planks and spinach-artichoke dip.
The new menu will be showcasing Old Chicago’s virtual brand, Twisted Tenders, as well. Customers can still get these to-go, but the chicken tenders, wings and sauces will be available to order while dining in at Old Chicago locations, too.
“Twisted Tenders has done very well for us,” Griffin said.