First cheese success, but questions!

I've been reading a lot about making cheese (thanks to google) and finally did it for the first time. Now, I am not sure what exactly I made, but I've seen it referred to as a "basic hard cheese".

I used:

1 Gallon water
6 cups dehydrated low fat milk
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/8th cup of cultured buttermilk

Held at 86 degrees for about an hour

Added rennet

Held at 86 degrees for 4 hours

Cut the curd, raised temp to 102 degrees for one hour

Drained the whey, dried the curd, salted it slightly and mixed it in, and then pressed it in a home made cheese press for a few hours at a time, flipping it to press out as much liquid as possible.

Pressed it for 24 hours (refrigerated) and then salted the outside of it with damp fine sea salt, and let it sit and "crust" in the refrigerator for 3 days. I then waxed it.

So it's been in there for about 2 weeks now. Question is, will it rot, and how soon is that likely to happen?

Should I let it age for a few weeks or more than a month?

What type of cheese did I make? Is it just a mystery cheese because of my buttermilk starter?

I just did a 2nd batch, and have not waxed it yet. I am trying to resist the urge to eat it tonight.

Any advice appreciated.

Now that I've made my first two pounds of cheese, I will probably order a good starter, additives, press, and a few other things from a cheese making supply.

Thanks
tom

Fresh cultured buttermilk can be used as convenient and cheap mesophilic starter. Good instincts there.

What do you mean by "rot?" Technically what you have done like all the cheese makers before you is preserve the milk so it does not "rot." You treat the rind to prevent mold growth with both the salt and the wax. Keep it cool (50s) and it will age. Sounds like you made something similar to cheddar. I would let it ride for a couple months.

oh heck i tasted the unwaxed batch. It's creamy like cream cheese, tastes a lot like cream cheese. Should I bother to continue aging the first batch?

Beerrific said:

Fresh cultured buttermilk can be used as convenient and cheap mesophilic starter. Good instincts there.

What do you mean by "rot?" Technically what you have done like all the cheese makers before you is preserve the milk so it does not "rot." You treat the rind to prevent mold growth with both the salt and the wax. Keep it cool (50s) and it will age. Sounds like you made something similar to cheddar. I would let it ride for a couple months.

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Ok great, thanks for the info! I am now eating the 3 day old batch, and it's not too bad, so I am excited to see how the first batch tastes in a month.

Thanks