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Creating a Perfect Cheesecake


M3brewboy

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I've never had a cheesecake crack on me, and I've never used a water bath. I always use a springform pan (mostly because I suck at inverting cakes without destroying them).

I also usually bake them for at least 10 minutes less than most recipes say.

My favorite: a marbled sweet potato cheesecake :wub: ... it's getting to be the perfect time of year for this one!

...wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic, and the serious smile. --Alexander Pope

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I do it all the time. No disasters whatsoever.

Maybe you should try it sometime.....unless you live in some sort of parallel

universe where inverting your cheesecake might interfere with the space-time

continuum.......then, well, I could see your point. :hmmm:

After thinking about it a little more, I realize why inverting might work for some cheesecakes, but not for mine. I use a recipe that has 2 layers, a denser cream cheese layer and a more delicate sour cream layer. The sour cream layer is on top, which is why inverting would just smash the hell out of it.

"Save Donald Duck and Fuck Wolfgang Puck."

-- State Senator John Burton, joking about

how the bill to ban production of foie gras in

California was summarized for signing by

Gov. Schwarzenegger.

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I always use a water bath at home, and let them cool slowly in the oven as suggested above, and have never had a problem.

As a corrective measure, after the cracks have occurred, I would use a trick someone taught me in the restaurant I used to work at way back when. Once the cake has cooled and you see the unsightly cracks, put a covering of plastic wrap over the top and put some very hot water on top of it. Swish around and the cracks will magically disappear! Obviously be careful not to drip water down the sides of your cake. We did this every time we had an inexperienced baker who would invevitably have cracks in their cheesecakes, as we never used water baths at the restaurant. Although I'm sure all of the serious bakers here would string me up by my toes for suggesting this, this was one of our many dirty little restaurant secrets we used in times of crisis.

Anyway, good luck in your future cheesecake endeavours!

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I agree with most of whats been posted. There are different "tips" "tricks" people employ when baking cheesecakes, like: using a waterbath, cooling in the oven, cooling covered, etc.... But you don't find out how acurate those "tips" are until you break them and your cheesecake turns out fine.

A cheesecake is a baked custard. To bake a custard well you have to respect/follow some basic principals. You want to cook this custard (egg mixture) gently, just until it's set. If you over-bake eggs they tight up because the moisture is squeezed out of them. Theres several books now on the market that explain the exact way this works. How you bake this custard gently doesn't really matter. You can use a water bath. You can bake at a lower temp..

You still can over cook your eggs by baking them too long even though you've employeed a gentle approach.

Authors give times and techniques to bake their cheesecakes. But this is a varible that may or may not work given your oven, your circumstances. The time it takes in one oven will be different then the time it takes in another. Just like all baked goods you have to learn what "signals" tell you the item is finished.......time is NOT a reliable factor. Tempatures and methods can be changed and give you equally successful results.

It's also correct that when the cheesecake cools it contracts, tightens, settles. Sometimes the edges of your cake stick to the side of the pan and when the cheesecake contracts the sides don't release and the cake cracks. Either spraying your pan before baking or running a thin knive around the edge after the cake comes out of the oven both work to prevent it from sticking.

I'm not so sure over-whipping/beating your batter causes it to crack. If you have large air pockets the cake deflates in that area but it doesn't crack.

I've often been asked what is the correct internal temp. of a baked cheesecake. I'm sorry I still don't have that answer.........I think it can be established BUT if your cake retains too much residual heat (it will continue cooking) and that may blow your ability to use the science of temp.. You'd also have to establish at what temp. it's placed in to cool down.

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One tip I haven't seen mentioned yet has to do with the eggs. Don't remember where I heard this, but it makes sense. What causes a cheesecake to firm up (and crack if overbaked) is the egg proteins. And the more you work those proteins, the more readily they're going to want to shrink if overbaked. So make sure to combine all your other ingredients thoroughly, then add the eggs last with the mixer on low. Mix only until the eggs are incorporated, then get the mix into the pan.

I do that, and have never had a cheesecake crack. As for the other stuff: I bake in a standard cake pan in a water bath. Remove when still jiggly to the counter, cover with a paper towel, and cool completely. Invert (chill first if you're really worried about causing a disaster, but I rarely bother).

And of course, voodoo tiki dance.

B. Keith Ryder

BCakes by BKeith

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Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

The one that gave me the "aha" moment was bkeith's. I think I did work the eggs too much (the phone rang, didn't turn off the mixer, etc.)

I'll go with that for now and then move on to the other suggestions, starting with the voodoo tiki dance.

Thanks again!

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Apologies if this is duplicating a discussion somewhere on this site. I was reading the thread about cracks in cheesecakes and noticed all the advice to use a waterbath. That reminded me that I recently heard (or read, perhaps here), that a waterbath will affect the final product. Cakes cooked without the bath will be denser and creamier than those cooked with. Seems an important consideration.

???

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Interesting question. Don't know the answer, but it makes me think of more questions: A waterbath ensures that the temperature surrounding at least that part of the cake will not rise above 212F/100C, if it even reaches that much. But only part of the cake is "submerged;" does that mean that the cake will cook at two different rates -- under-boiling-point below the waterline, and at-full-oven-temp above? Or does the temperature somehow even out throughout the batter?

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I was told that the famous New York Lindy's cheesecake was baked without a waterbath. The cake is first blasted with high heat to set the outside, then baked slowly at a very low temperature to avoid curdling the eggy cheese mixture, and finally finished in the receding heat of a turned off oven.

I used this method to make a Corsican cheesecake (fiadone) and it was really wonderful: wobbly, delicate and creamy throughout

This type of slow baking is very forgiving.

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

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I've tried two cheescake recipes, the first one is this

Alton Brown's recipe

this makes a wonderful cheesecake, no cracks, smooth surface and very good taste. The problem for me is the texture. It is too creamy and not "cakey/dry" enough. It felt like eating sweetened cream cheese. this is only my opinion of course so Raynickben, you might like it more.

the other recipe is this one

From Tyler's Ultimate

this also tastes good, but it does puff up and crack. All that is "covered" with the topping. Even on the show it cracked. The problem with this one again is the texture, it is too fluffy and again not dense and "dry" enough.

So I guess I have not made a cheesecake at home that pleases me. I want it creamy but not too creamy. The texture should be in between a cake and a custard. Is that asking too much? Anyone has a recipe to share?

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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My friends and family consider me the cheesecake master. Here's the techinique I use.

1. Don't use a springform pan. I have tried, again and again, and it ALWAYS leaks, and you ALWAYS get a soggy crust. No matter how much heavy-duty aluminum foil you wrap around it.

2. After the cake is done baking (or maybe a wee bit before), crack the door and leave it sitting in the oven in its water bath for one hour. Don't even think about taking it out.

3. Then let it sit on the counter and as mentioned before, run a hot knife around the edge to give it the opportunity to separate from the cake pan. Let it sit for an hour or so.

4. Put it in the fridge. You're done and it's a kick-butt cheesecake.

I forget where, and I'll try to find and link the recipe (I think it was from Epicurious) but I made a pumpkin cheesecake last year for Thanksgiving that blew every other dessert away. It was gone before anybody even touched the mud pie. More to follow after I get my wife to remind me where that recipe came from. :rolleyes:

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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You will get lots of different suggestions....everyone swearing what they do is the THING to do, because it works for them. I wouldn't be surprised if someone suggested to perform a voodoo tiki dance during the last 20 minutes of baking time with the oven door open.

Perhaps true for cheescake but the ONLY surefire cure for hiccups is a spoonful of plain dry sugar tossed directly to the back of the mouth and swallowed in one gulp. Actually salt or sand would work but neither are especially enjoyable to eat.

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Temperature for cheesecake:

I have it in the back of my mind that the center of a done cheesecake will test at 165 F with an instant read thermometer. I don't know where this bit of knowledge came from, but I've been using this temp. as a benchmark for my cheesecakes, and it seems to be working. A caveat: i think the thermometer is supposed to be not touching the pan, and I just stick my roasting thermometer in the middle of the cheesecake and I'm sure it touches the bottom of the pan, so I generally cook a little longer just in case.

For the record, I bake at a really, really low temp (225 in a convection oven) b/c i was having lots of trouble with curdling last year. I leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour or so after baking and don't use a water bath. (sometimes I'll push the steam button if I feel like it, but one of my ovens cooks really moist, so I just usually bake in there).

The hole left by the thermometer? Not a problem. After we unmold the cheesecake, we sandwich it between two thin layers of Wendy's Chocolate Fudge Cake, pour a lot of ganache over it, and let the raves come it.

Marjorie

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Cooks Illustrated states:

Why Do Cheesecakes Crack?

The secret to a smooth-topped cheesecake.

The secret to a smooth-topped cheesecake. What we learned from two months of baking was that when the internal temperature of a cheesecake rose beyond 160 degrees, it almost always cracked. The best way to prevent cracking is to use an instant-read thermometer to test the cheesecake's doneness. Take it out of the oven when it reaches 150 degrees at the center to avoid overbaking. That said, there is a second opportunity for the cheesecake to crack, this time outside of the oven. During testing, a perfectly good-looking cake cracked as it sat on the cooling rack. Evidently, the cake shrank during cooling and clung to the sides of the springform pan. If the cake clings tenaciously enough, it splits at its weakest point, the center. To avoid this type of late cracking, free the cheesecake from the sides of the pan with a paring knife as soon as it comes out of the oven.

"Live every moment as if your hair were on fire" Zen Proverb

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Here is my post from the cracking of a cheescake thread. The 2 recipes produce 2 different results and the second one sounds like what Wolfert is talking about.

I've tried two cheescake recipes, the first one is this

Alton Brown's recipe

this makes a wonderful cheesecake, no cracks, smooth surface and very good taste. The problem for me is the texture. It is too creamy and not "cakey/dry" enough. It felt like eating sweetened cream cheese. this is only my opinion of course so Raynickben, you might like it more.

the other recipe is this one

From Tyler's Ultimate

this also tastes good, but it does puff up and crack. All that is "covered" with the topping. Even on the show it cracked. The problem with this one again is the texture, it is too fluffy and again not dense and "dry" enough.

So I guess I have not made a cheesecake at home that pleases me. I want it creamy but not too creamy. The texture should be in between a cake and a custard. Is that asking too much? Anyone has a recipe to share?

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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I am a hugh fan of making cheesecake in a water bath- I think they come out creamy and uncracked. My favorite classic recipe is from Berenbaum's Cake Bible. Like velvet everytime. If you are a chocolate fan, then try Maida Heatter's triple threat cheesecake from her Great American Desserts book.

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Small Tangent: I just have to add that this issue is what initially brought me to eGullet via Google search. Strangely enough, cracking cheesecake problems have sentimental value to me now. :blink:

What's wrong with peanut butter and mustard? What else is a guy supposed to do when we are out of jelly?

-Dad

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So I guess I have not made a cheesecake at home that pleases me. I want it creamy but not too creamy. The texture should be in between a cake and a custard. Is that asking too much? Anyone has a recipe to share?

Elie

That's what I've been looking for forever. I want to do a homemade cheesecake like the ones I used to get at the Carnegie Deli in NYC - they fit your description exactly. Mine (the traditional ones, that is), always come out too creamy for my taste. The bittersweet chocolate ones, however, come out with a firmer texture, still creamy but firmer.

Edited by merstar (log)
There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE.
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I think if you drain the cheese for a day or two you would get that dense texture.

Edited by Wolfert (log)

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

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I think if you drain the cheese for a day or two you would get that dense texture.

Thanks. It sounds like a good idea. I'll definitely try that the next time I do a cheesecake.

I've also heard that using all whole eggs instead of some whole and some yolks, might make a difference because of the drying effect of the whites. The NY Cheesecake recipe I use has 5 eggs and just 2 yolks, so I'm wondering how much effect, if any, only 2 yolks would have as opposed to using two whole eggs instead? Or perhaps replacing the 2 yolks with just the whites?

There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE.
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I think if you drain the cheese for a day or two you would get that dense texture.

"drain" cream cheese? Even with so-called natural cream cheese without gums and stabilizers I'm not sure if this is possible. It's not like yogurt where the water/whey content is so high that it tends to separate. Cream cheese is an emulisfied fat that's quite stable.

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If you overmix the batter, you’ll risk aerating it too much. You certainly don’t want to have excess pockets of air in the cake as it bakes, causing undue expansion of the top, which then more-or-less falls, rendering a fragmented surface.

Do not bake a cheesecake at a temp. higher than 350° F. You must strive to avoid having the waterbath boil. Disregard recipes that stipulate the use of one, two, or more oven-temperature adjustments. That's counterproductive to the accomplishment of a properly baked cheesecake.

Do not bake beyond the stage at which the cheesecake is slightly underdone: the center 3-inch radius of a 10-inch diam. cake should “wobble” slightly when the pan is gently tapped.

The waterbath will gently humidify the oven environment – helping to ensure a moist, creamy-smooth cake. The au bain marie method fairly protects the cake as it bakes by maintaining an even, low-moisture heat. The key to success is two-fold: The water must be kept at sub-boiling tempertures, and it must circulate around and under the pan – therefore, if possible, set the cake pan on a low trivet in the bain marie.

Be certain that the walls of the pan are oiled before pouring in the cheesecake batter: the cake will start to contract during the cooling phase; so, once the it’s been removed from the oven, you must run a thin-bladed metal spatula around the edge in order to free it from the rim. Most recipes for cheesecake unduly instruct contrary to this advice. Finally, wait until the cake has reached room temperature before placing it under refrigeration.

"Dinner is theater. Ah, but dessert is the fireworks!" ~ Paul Bocuse

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I am sorry I didn't specify ricotta. I don't use cream cheese in my fiadone (Corsican cheesecake).

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

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I have had great success with baking cheesecakes in a water bath at 325 degrees. I prefer to use tall sided cake pans, not springform -- they break, they leak, parts get lost, they are cheesy. I agree with Redsugar (I love reading Redsugar's comments) concerning oiling the sides of the pan so the cakecan recdede without cracking. However, my best results have come from heavily brushing them with partially melted butter. I like to see the butter on the side of the pan. I do this after baking the graham crust and the pan has cooled or after inserting any other type of crust/bottom. I have used cake or pastry bottoms and lined the entire inside of the cake pan with plastic wrap. I spray the sides of the pan so that the wrap will cling and not cause wrinkles in the sides of the cheesecake. I generally move the cheesecakes from the oven directly to the refrigerator with little detriment. To unmold, I put the pan in a steamtable for 5 to 10 seconds and put a cardboard on top, invert, shake if necessary, and unmold. Place another cardboard on the bottom and revert the cake to the upright position. I use the same technique for the plastic wrapped cakes, but give a slight tug to the plastic. This has worked successfully with double rack ovens and single cakes at home.

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Paula Wolfert and RedSugar I moved your posts to it's own topic, where I hope you will both continue to exchange ideas on that subject. I think that many people can and will become confused if we talk on a sub-topic, with-out clearly labeling and catagorizing our comments. Recipes and methods vary greatly between a cream cheese based cheesecake and a ricotta cheesecake.

Fiadone discussion.

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