Gurkan, You are very welcome.
Since making my last post on this topic I have decided to do some more studying before attempting another swiss style cheese.
I would hate to guess how much I've spent on propionic shermanii over the past few years, but there's no doubt it is way too much since I have not turned out one single quality example.
One thing that I have read is that another key to forming the large eyes is to keep the gas production at a slow pace which means not using too much culture at the beginning and not ripening at too high of a temp.
On my last several makes I have used up to a tsp. of shermanii per 5 gallon batch when I probably should have used 3/8 of a tsp at most. I really just figured that if a little worked okay then a lot should work even better.
On my next attempt I plan on using 3/8 tsp and sweating at not over 68 degrees F. I will also, of course, press under the whey.
Another thing that I've read (on the university of guelph website) is that bagging with plenty of room for expansion will also help in the development of eyes. This is something that was discussed slightly a couple of weeks ago on this forum.
According to the UofGuelph website, vacuum bagging with a LOT of room for expansion is an acceptable practice so I also plan on giving this a try in the future.
I've learned that best practice is to only change one variable at a time to figure out what works and what doesn't. On my next batch I plan on trying the reduced amount of shermanii and sweating at a cooler temp. If that gives better results then the vacuum bagging will be the next thing that I try.
I'm still feeling intimidated by this type of cheese but once it gets a little cooler here it's on my list. I really can't wait until one of us get this right and figure out the proper procedure(s).
Dave