You are actually very, very accurate with your description. The shaggy mass stage is sort of like the adolescent stage of dough, when it's unevenly hydrated, and at times doesn't have all of the liquid added. The action of kneading will usually finish bringing the dough together, and the fat in the dough is manipulated to be more evenly distributed. Susan
August 10, 2014 at 10:58am
In reply to I've always been curious, what exactly is a "shaggy mass"? I've… by agtwo (not verified)