Some breads will start with flour in the stand mixer, while others will start with the wet ingredients. Either way, many breads can be completely mixed using only the dough hook in the stand mixer. (If there is an egg, it is better to beat it before adding it to the mixer, or the dough hook may end up chasing the yolk around the bowl . . . which is amusing, but hardly productive.) At the very beginning, the mixing speed can be a few levels above the lowest level, if your stand mixer has, oh, say 6 levels or something, like mine.
If you start with some dry ingredients, you will end up adding wet ingredients, then finishing off with more flour. If you start with wet ingredients, remember the first cup of flour can pretty much be added all at once, but after that, be a little more careful. If you add too much at a time at certain points in the mixing process, it may jump back out of the bowl at you, sprinkling your countertop and your apron with flour everywhere.
Either way, the dough will progress to something like this:
As more flour is added, the dough will start to make more of a ball around the hook, while still sticking to the bottom of the bowl. If you were mixing before at a speed a few levels above the lowest, you will probably want to lower your speed a bit. At this point, keep adding flour, but only do it a little at a time--just enough to persuade the dough to stop sticking to the bottom of the bowl and clean up the sides a bit. Finally, you will end up with something like this:
At this stage, tap flour a little at a time to keep the ball of dough from sticking while you allow the dough to knead at either the lowest speed or the next higher one, roughly five minutes or so. (This kneading is necessary to activate the gluten in the flour. Without this step, your yeast dough will not rise very well.)
Turn the mixer to the lowest speed, drizzle a little vegetable oil down the inside of the bowl, and allow the ball of dough to move around the bowl one or two times. Stop the mixer, remove the bread hook from the machine, and scrape (with your fingers--it's easier that way) the dough down off the dough hook. Twirl the ball of dough to evenly spread the oil around and turn it upside down, so the greased side of the dough is up.
Time to rise:
Cover the bowl with paper towels or a very clean dishtowel, and walk away. The dough is ready to shape when it has risen to about double in size. (The time varies wildly between types of bread, as well as the temperature in which the dough is rising, in my experience. Most recipes will give some kind of idea how long the rising time can be expected to be.)
