My grandma told me to put a pan of water under my cheesecake and I ignored her for 2 years

Wren Carr · 2026-09-25T14:50:07.009692+00:00

So back in 2023 I was trying to make my first cheesecake for my roommate's birthday and the top cracked wide open like a dried out riverbed. My grandma, who baked for a church in Ohio for like 30 years, told me the fix is simple: put a pan of hot water on the rack below it. I thought that was some old lady nonsense and kept trying other stuff like lowering the temp, yanking it out early, even greasing the pan twice. Four separate cheesecakes later, all of them cracked or sank in the middle, I finally just tried her water pan trick. Came out smooth as a baby's cheek, not one crack, and the texture was way creamier than anything I had made before. The steam keeps the air humid so the top doesn't dry out and pull apart while it bakes, that's the whole deal. I felt like such a fool for waiting so long to just listen to her. So what old school tip did someone give you that you brushed off and then it turned out to be right? Or the opposite, did anyone ever give you advice that totally wrecked your bake? I want to know before I try anything else she told me.

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My grandma told me to put a pan of water under my cheesecake and I ignored her for 2 years | Baking Fails And Wins - Discusd