Shaggy Dough

Pizza Dough straight out of the mixer

Tip for dough consistency

I have read a number of recipes that say your dough should be "shaggy".  It has taken me a while to fully understand what that heck that term means.  I will try and help using photos.  When I pulled the dough above out of the mixer it had this rough kind of look. All the flour had incorporated and I let the mixer go for a few minutes after that. I certainly achieved shaggy. 

I then covered the dough and let it sit for about 5 minutes.  This allowed the flour to absorb the water a bit and allowed the yeast to get started.  After kneading a few times, the dough looked like the photo below - nice and smooth.  Now that it is smooth I can bulk rise it cold overnight, or ball it into dough boxes for a 48 hour rise.
  
I hope this is helpful!  Shoot for shaggy right out of the mixer and you will get smooth dough later.

Smooth dough - after a rest time.

Just out of the mixer on the left - after a few minute rest on the right.

Thank You for following!

Read more info about dough recipes HERE