I think everyone is wrong about how to fix a cracked cheesecake top

My last cheesecake came out with a huge crack right down the middle, which seems to happen to a lot of people. The common fix you see everywhere is to put a pan of water in the oven, but that never worked for me. I tried it three times and still got cracks. I spent about two hours online looking for other answers and found a tip about letting the cake cool in the oven with the door propped open. I did that, but it still cracked after 45 minutes of cooling. The real fix for me was much simpler: I stopped beating the eggs into the batter so hard. I used to mix them in on medium speed with my hand mixer for a full minute. Now I just fold them in gently with a spatula at the end. Has anyone else found that the water bath advice just doesn't work for their oven?

3 comments

3 Comments

baker.ben3mo ago

Wait, you read that article about over mixing the eggs too? I saw a baker say that even a little extra air from beating can make it rise too fast and then fall, causing the crack. So you just fold them in with a spatula now, no mixer at all?

cameron_owens493mo ago

Wait, did your cake crack last time too?

knight.diana1mo agoMost Upvoted

Cameron, my cake cracked so bad it looked like a map of the Grand Canyon last week. @baker.ben I'm not convinced a spatula is the magic fix though, my grandma used a hand mixer her whole life and never had issues. Maybe it's the oven temp or something?