Help with Shrinking Cheesecake in Jars

[RayLee]

Hi everyone! I am having some crazy problem with my cheesecake that I am baking. I am using these little jars, but for some reason after the cheesecake cools down it just shrinks and looks super ugly.

I will attach a picture of what it looked like coming out of the oven, and what it looked like after it cooled a little was just abysmal. I even tried leaving it in the oven and keeping the oven door ajar.

It just shrinks to the point where the cheesecake touching the glass just implodes. The top part of the cheesecake is stuck up top but also deflates a little bit.

The recipe I use is a recipe I found online for cheesecakes baked in a muffin tin.

Here is the link:

http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes...es-with-white-chocolate-covered-strawberries/

Looking forward to your help guys! Thank you!

Ray

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Glass conducts heat better than metal. Cheesecake is one of those things that has to be baked in controlled lower heat.

350 is too high, especially when you place the mixture in jars. The combination of the heat from the glass and smaller portions of mixture is causing the cheesecake too bake, too hot too fast. It's about surface area exposed to heat.

Cheesecake is normally baked in a Bain Marie to control the heat. Water boils at 212° (at sea level). So water cannot get any hotter than 212° since it evaporates when boiled.

The cooler water around the baking containers insulates the cheesecake from the excessive heat of the oven. This allows for the mixture to cook slower and more evenly.

Drop the temperature of the oven to 325 or even 320.

Use a Bain Marie.

Do not over bake. Bake until cheesecake is slightly jiggly in center. If you bake until the cheesecake is firm it will be over baked.

Cool slowly. When cheesecake is baked turn the oven off. Leave the pan in the oven. Open the oven door slightly and stick a wooden spoon between oven and door to keep door ajar

Cool in oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

When I bake cheesecake I cool in oven 90 minutes. By reducing thermal shock during cooling, cheesecake is less likely to crack as it won't immediately contract.

 

[ChesterV]

Yes.........use a Bain Marie when baking with glass like this.

Also, glass is melted silica (sand). If the glass has not been tempered or mixed with other silica chemicals to lessen the "glass" effect in baking, then what ever you bake in glass is going to stick to the sides.

It will stick to where ever the point is where it stopped rising during baking.

If baking via the slower, less hot method still gets you the same results, then you will need to coat the insides of the jars with some sort of fat. For un-tempered glass, I find that actual REAL butter works best. If you don't or can't use real butter, then use Sunflower or Canola oil, a very light coating around the sides....up to where ever you thing the cheesecake will rise. Don't grease above that, otherwise you might get oily topped cheesecake or the oil will just bake and stick to the sides of the glass, which is still edible, but not very visually appealing.


A full Bain Marie baking is your best bet for something like this though.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

G

Yes.........use a Bain Marie when baking with glass like this.

Also, glass is melted silica (sand). If the glass has not been tempered or mixed with other silica chemicals to lessen the "glass" effect in baking, then what ever you bake in glass is going to stick to the sides.

It will stick to where ever the point is where it stopped rising during baking.

If baking via the slower, less hot method still gets you the same results, then you will need to coat the insides of the jars with some sort of fat. For un-tempered glass, I find that actual REAL butter works best. If you don't or can't use real butter, then use Sunflower or Canola oil, a very light coating around the sides....up to where ever you thing the cheesecake will rise. Don't grease above that, otherwise you might get oily topped cheesecake or the oil will just bake and stick to the sides of the glass, which is still edible, but not very visually appealing.


A full Bain Marie baking is your best bet for something like this though.

Good point on the sticking!