If you cannot get brick cheese
What can I use instead of brick cheese for Detroit-style pizza?
Brick cheese is genuinely hard to buy outside the American Midwest. What Detroit pizza needs from it is high fat, low moisture and a willingness to fry against a hot pan — which several more available cheeses also do.
Generally acceptedWhat the original actually contributes
The caramelised cheese edge — the frico — that defines the style. That needs a cheese with enough fat to render and brown against the pan wall, low enough moisture not to steam, and a mild flavour that can be used in the quantity Detroit pizza uses without becoming overwhelming.
Where availability is the problem
Made primarily in Wisconsin and distributed mainly within the United States. Rarely available in Europe, the UK, or most of the world, and not usually stocked even by good cheesemongers outside North America.
Options
Low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella with about 20-25% mild cheddar
CloseKeeps what defines the style. There is a difference, and it is minor.
Available in: Almost everywhere
How to use it
Cube rather than shred, and push the cubes hard against the pan walls so they melt down the sides. The cheddar supplies the fat and browning that mozzarella alone lacks.
What changes
Slightly sharper and more savoury than brick, which is notably mild. The frico edge itself forms properly, which is the part that matters most.
Generally acceptedWhat it does not change
The structure of the bake or the pan behaviour. This is the standard workaround among Detroit-style makers outside the Midwest.
- Detroit Free Press — coverage of Buddy's Pizza and Detroit-style origin — Detroit Free Press
- Slice (pizza history and culture writing) — Slice / First We Feast
Young Monterey Jack, or a mild young Gouda
CloseKeeps what defines the style. There is a difference, and it is minor.
Available in: United States; Gouda widely in Europe
How to use it
Use alone or blended with low-moisture mozzarella at roughly half and half.
Generally acceptedWhat changes
Melts and browns readily with a mild flavour close to brick's. Young Gouda is the most available good option in Europe and browns particularly well.
- Modernist Pizza — The Cooking Lab
Mild white cheddar alone
Workable, with trade-offsThe result is recognisably the style, but you lose something specific — named below.
Available in: UK, Ireland, Australia, North America
How to use it
Choose the mildest and youngest available; avoid anything matured or crumbly.
Generally acceptedWhat changes
Browns and fries excellently but can split and release oil more than brick does, and a mature cheddar will dominate the pizza. Works, and needs a young cheese to work well.
- Modernist Pizza — The Cooking Lab
Fresh mozzarella
Not recommendedCommonly suggested, and it does not work here. The reason is given rather than the advice simply withheld.
How to use it
Do not use fresh mozzarella against the pan wall for a Detroit bake.
Strongly supportedWhat changes
Its water content steams rather than fries, so no frico forms at all, and the released water makes the base soggy in a long pan bake. This is the single most common Detroit-style mistake.
- Modernist Pizza — The Cooking Lab
Related
Evidence
Generally accepted- Detroit Free Press — coverage of Buddy's Pizza and Detroit-style origin — Detroit Free Press
- Modernist Pizza — The Cooking Lab