I like to sit right next to my doe on the stand with my leg closest to her bent so that if they do happen to act naughty, I can quickly grab her leg (it's much harder for them to knock the milk pail over on three legs than four) or snatch the milk pail out from under her. Once the doe proves trustworthy I can use both hands to milk. 

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As soon as I am done milking, and also in between each doe, I filter the milk through a cone coffee filter into a clean mason jar. I use glass jars because they are easy to sanitize and store. Cool that milk off ASAP unless you are making cheese right away. 

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I recently was able to purchase a milk machine and I went with the SimplePulse. Their customer service was great and for my small herd, it was SO worth the investment. I can milk two does at a time which saves me time. Another plus to the milk machine is that it filters the milk as soon as it gets to the jar. No spills and no bacteria getting in there from the get go. I do have to do a weekly "tear apart" and disinfecting but so worth it. There are several other milk machines that are highly recommended so just do your research before purchasing it to be sure it works best for you and your farm. *Update: I timed it both hand-milking and using the Simple Pulse and it was actually the same amount of time because of tear down and clean up for the milk machine part. So basically, invest in one if you want to save your hands and it really does give you more freedom to leave your herd every now and then as pretty much anyone can run a milk machine.*

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Here is an udder balm recipe from The Prairie Homestead. 

• 1/2 ounce beeswax

• 1 ounce shea butter 

• 1 ounce coconut oil (Expeller-pressed is fine (the kind that doesn’t smell like coconuts)) 

• 3 ounces calendula infused oil or make it yourself (directions below)

• 2 drops lavender essential oil 

• 2 drops melaleuca essential oil

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To Make Your Own Calendula Infused Oil:

Place dry calendula leaves in a very clean, dry glass jar. Cover them completely with olive oil. Cap tightly and place in a warm, sunny window and allow to steep for 2-4 weeks (the longer the better). Give it a good shake once a day or so (or whenever you happen to think about it). When you are ready to use it, strain out the leaves.

Calendula is thought to have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral properties. It’s a favorite herbal treatment for healing minor cuts, scrapes, and burns.

To make the udder balm:

In a double boiler, melt the beeswax. I use a hill-billy double boiler setup:

I fill a small saucepan 1/2 way full with water and place a Pyrex measuring cup (or some other stove-top safe container) inside. I place the beeswax in the Pyrex, and allow it to melt over medium-high heat. (Using beeswax pastilles, instead of bars, makes the melting process easier…)

Once the beeswax is melted, add in the shea butter and coconut oil. Gently stir, incorporating everything as it melts. Add the calendula oil, mix together, and then remove from the heat. Add the essential oils.

Store in a small glass or plastic container (if using plastic, allow your mixture to cool a little before pouring it into the container). Make sure you choose something large enough that you can reach your fingers inside to scoop out the salve."

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With all that beautiful milk you have now you can make all sorts of things with it. You can make soaps (lye calculator here) and lotions, drink it raw or pasteurized, make kefir or yogurt, fermented cheese, fresh cheese, aged cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, ice cream, fudge (recipe here), cajeta and caramels (recipe here). I have a few cheesemaking books now, but here are some that I use all the time:  

David Asher's book, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking Using Traditional, Non-Industrial Methods and Raw Ingredients to Make the Worlds's Best Cheeses and

Claudia Lucero's book, One-Hour Cheese.

If you get overwhelmed with how much milk you are getting I also highly recommend taking this online Dairy Class with the Homesteading Family. She is very detailed in her class and offers many different recipes as well as cheese-making hacks. It is well worth the investment so none of that liquid gold goes to waste. There are also tons of free recipes that you can find on Pinterest for both cheese-making and soap making.