5 Reasons Your Cheesecake Is Cracking

Making a classic homemade cheesecake from scratch is a fun activity with an absolutely delicious end result. However, if you're a perfectionist, you may end up just a little disappointed if your cheesecake is cracked on top (meaning that instead of a smooth, perfect surface, there's a visible crack in the structure of the dessert). To find out how this cracking happens, Daily Meal spoke with an expert: Deden Putra, executive pastry chef at Pechanga Resort Casino, who is known for his confectionary precision.

Of course, a cracked cheesecake is not the end of the world. Putra says, "Chances are it will still taste amazingly delicious and rich. You can simply cover it with fresh jam and fruit or whipped cream." In fact, some cheesecakes already have toppings built into the recipe. But it still doesn't hurt to learn how to prevent any cracking.

Putra says, "You can think of cheesecakes as a bit needy. When they look perfect, we don't think much of it. But when they turn out dry and cracked, the chef may feel like running away and hiding." With that being said, Putra has identified five key reasons that your cheesecake may be cracking — by learning more about these reasons, hopefully you can avoid a cracked cheesecake in the future.

Greasing the pan is an important step in many recipes, but it plays an especially crucial part when it comes to making a crack-free cheesecake. Deden Putra says, "If you've ever watched baking shows featuring amateur chefs, one of the number one things they forget to do is spray or grease the pan before they start baking."

Essentially, a cheesecake will contract as it cools, so if it's sticking to the sides of the pan, then a crack can form as a result of the contracting cheesecake being pulled outward. So, before the batter even goes into the pan, it's essential that you grease the pan well on all sides.

The chef adds, "When you release the springform pan, you want the nice, smooth edges and no cracks on the sides. But if you don't grease the bottom and sides of the pan, you're asking for trouble from the start."

Another factor that may be leading to a cracked cheesecake? A too-hot oven. However, according to Deden Putra, this may be of no fault of your own because ovens, in general, can be pretty temperamental.

Putra explains, "No matter what oven you use every single day of the year, it will never be like the same oven twice. Tons of factors affect your oven as it heats up and tries to stay at a constant temperature," adding the temperature of your kitchen, how long your oven preheated, and the location of the cheesecake within the oven are all determining factors.

Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to try to combat the changing nature of the oven. For one, Putra says to place the cheesecake as close to the middle of the oven as possible. "That way, the heat can circulate through the entire dessert and through your entire oven more evenly."

He also recommends getting to know your oven as intimately as possible before you attempt the cheesecake. "Try baking some easy things in there first, such as precut, store-bought cookie dough, to understand where it may have hot spots," he says. "Some corners and racks in your oven are going to run slightly hotter than others. If the cookies on one side of your pan are browner or crispier than the others, it's a good bet that's the hotter area."

There's a reason that it's so important to stick to a recipe's instructions — including how long to bake. Deden Putra says, "Even a couple of minutes too long in the oven can jar the ingredients to a point where they separate and can no longer take the pressure the heat is supplying to them."

To avoid this, the chef emphasized the importance of setting a timer based exactly on what the recipe instructs. He adds, "Often, we get distracted or think it's fine to leave baked goods cooking a little longer than we should. It's not. That time was set for a purpose by the chef."

It's also important to know how to tell when a cheesecake is done baking. The primary way to check if the cheesecake is done is to give the pan a gentle shake and see if it jiggles. Despite what making other baked goods may have taught you (that a toothpick should come out clean because the baked good is fully set), a cheesecake should have a jiggly middle (as well as set exterior edges). You want it slightly jiggly because the middle will continue to bake even after it's out of the oven due to residual heat.

As it turns out, you should always cook your cheesecake in a water bath. Deden Putra says, "The ingredients that make cheesecake so rich are also what can make it temperamental ... these items like a perfect, steam room-like environment when baking, so a bain Marie, [also known as] a water bath, can do the trick to have the dessert come out of the oven perfectly."

Here's how you set up the water bath: Start by preparing the cheesecake batter as normal, pouring it into a springform pan. Then, find a large roasting pan — something as long, wide, and tall as possible — and fill it with hot water. Next, place the springform pan into the water-filled pan. Be careful not to overfill the pan; you don't want the water to spill when you add the cheesecake pan.

The chef explains, "The steam and humidity created by the water while the cheesecake is in the oven helps gently set the ingredients, letting them come together gradually which helps eliminate any cracks from forming. Many chefs swear by this method. When the timer on the cheesecake goes off, I like to open the oven a little bit to let the steam come out first, and then I take out the cake."

With just about any baking, it's a good idea to try to avoid overmixing. But, as it turns out, it's especially important with cheesecake batter, as it can be the defining cause of a cracked top.

Deden Putra says, "When the eggs in the mixture get overwhipped, you incorporate too much air. In the baking process, that air wants to go somewhere and can cause the top or the sides of the cake to crack." The chef points out that this can happen with other baked goods, such as bread loaves, but it's especially notable with cheesecake because of the visible crack it causes.

Luckily, this is an easy mistake to avoid once you know to look out for it — all you have to do is practice restraint. Putra explains, "When mixing your eggs into the ingredients, whisk them just enough until they are well combined. There's no need to overmix. Overmixing means over-aerification." Instead, leave the overmixing to gluten-free cakes, where it's actually preferred.