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How to bake pizza in a wood fired oven

By Kyle Phillips, About.com

3 of 10

Shaping the pizzas

Dough balls shaped into disks

Shape the balls into dishs, and they're ready for topping

Kyle Phillips
You should pull the disk by hand, because a rolling pin makes for a thin tough disk, and work quickly because overhandling also toughens the dough. Take a ball, leaving the others covered, and put it on a floured work surface. Flour your hands too, and begin spreading it from the center, splaying your fingers and working clockwise; don't touch the rim until the disk is at least 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. Lift the disk with both hands and flip it, rotating it from one hand to the other, and return it to your work surface, with the unpressed side up. Continue to stretch the dough, leaving the rim a little thicker, until your disk is 12 inches (30 cm) across.

With practice you'll learn how to stretch the dough with your hands without pressing it down on your work surface, and you may even get to the point of pulling the disk in the air.

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