How can you tell if a cheesecake is done? Is it done when it cracks. I baked a plain cheesecake for an hour. I touched it to see if it would spring back and it did. Then I put a cake tester pick through it to see if the pick would come out clean and it didn't.
Should I put it back in the oven?
Cheesecakes and cakes are different as far as the method used to check the doneness. Usually you can tell when a cheesecake is done by tapping the pan & if its a bit firmer around the sides & still wiggles in the middle thats a good sign. It will set up during the cooling period.
I look at the color for doneness. Mine are usually light brown in color on top & everything is set except the middle is a little giggly.
Try to limit opening the door too much, which is one cause for cracking. Another reason, for the cracking, is over mixing the batter. I also use a water bath to try to prevent future cracking.
Good luck! All this cheesecake talk makes me want to make one! 
Cheesecakes are finished when the top still jiggles a little bit and no longers looks wet or shiny on the top. After it is refridgerated for at least 4 hours, they do firm up. If you do the 'toothpick test' it will never come out clean with cheesecake.
If it cracks, it's overcooked. Hope that helps! I just made a new recipe last night and questioned it's doneness, but after it sat in the fridge overnight it was perfect.
I agree about the center circle still jiggling slightly....also, the edges can be golden and I sometimes have to tent it with foil when it browns too much.
Another thing I do is the water bath, which really helps and then I take a very thin paring knife and run it around the edge after it has cooled for maybe 10 minutes or so. Then, when it contracts as it cools, it will come together instead of sticking to the edge and cracking in the middle.
Ok, last thing (can you tell I LOVE making cheesecakes??) a very cool decorating technique is to put the filled pan on your cake turntable and take your large rounded metal spatula.....rest it gently at the very center and spin the table as you bring the spatula out and it will bake the coolest spiral effect I have ever seen....
My family all love plain cheesecake and this dresses it up well. Then, we take a divided bowl and have blueberries, cherries, mocha flavored cream and ganache and serve as a cheesecake buffet. 
It's sort of a PITA but is fancy for company.....
CakeDiva73, what is the best way to get cheesecakes off of the bottom of springform pans. I've tried parchment paper but they are still so difficult! Any words of experience?
Cheesecakes are finished when the top still jiggles a little bit and no longers looks wet or shiny on the top. After it is refridgerated for at least 4 hours, they do firm up. If you do the 'toothpick test' it will never come out clean with cheesecake.
If it cracks, it's overcooked. Hope that helps! I just made a new recipe last night and questioned it's doneness, but after it sat in the fridge overnight it was perfect.
Not always is it overcooked if it cracks. Most cheesecakes crack some. It will crack more the more you mix it. You want to add your eggs one at a time on low speed and mix it just enough that it's blended. You can also do it with a spatula by hand. If you mix it too much it will cause air bubbles, which is usually the cause of your cracking. As others have said, baking it with a water bath will give you the best results. If you are making just one cheesecake, put a 9x13 pan of water on the bottom shelf, and don't open the oven until the time is up. You also want to make sure that you loosen it on the edges as soon as it's done. I learned a lot through trial and error, and from a guy here that owns a cheesecake business. I had a wedding cake order in June that I had to bake a 6" and 150 individual cheesecakes. It was a lot of work, but worth it. At the reception I asked my husband if he thought people seemed to like it and he said do you hear anything? It was silent for about 5 minutes so I took that as a yes. HTH
I didn't know that but I knew that mixing too fast was bad (air bubbles) and I saw this interview with a New York guy who has a famous cheesecake store (can't remember which one 
) and he said the secret was once all the ingredients were incorporated, he let the mixer run on low for about 15". Said that was what gave it the creamy texture....he did not mention, however, how NOT to get the cracks!!
I usually underbake rather than over... I remember I made one at the last minute for New Years and took it out too soon and it was soupy in the middle 
I was embarassed but everyone still ate it.
I am not a cheesecake pro....I have a bunch of different size pans like the 4", 6" & 7" and like to take a big recipe and split it so I can share.... 150 mini cheesecakes? 
I would have died! How in the world did you do that?
As for the sticking to the bottom, make sure you are using enough butter/marg. mixed with your crumbs and it should pull away fine.... If there are not enough, it will stick. I also heavily butter the bottom and sides. I usually use whatever is on hand to make the crust..sometimes graham cracker crumbs and sometime I crush up those cookies Pecan Sandies and that makes a decadent crust too..... Just add enough melted butter so when you squeeze it together, it stays clumped. If it won't stick, then add more melted butter.
Like I said, I am no cheesecake expert... I just like them!
hehe I wish they were real mini. They were the size of a large muffin, 3 inches across. I could only bake 12 at a time, since I use a water bath. I had some that fell apart because of the humidity. In all I baked for about 21 hours total. I used the Pam for baking spray that has the flour in it. I sprayed the pans, added a little extra butter to the graham crackers. I used the Keebler extra fine graham cracker crumbs, which I got from a wholesale place. Made it much simpler and saved me a lot of time. Do make sure that you bake the drust for 10 minutes before adding the cheesecake mix. hehe I forgot on a couple of batches. 
I also had to plate them all, put a strawberry glaze drizzle on them and fresh strawberries. I couldn't do any of that until I got to the country club. I couldn't cut the strawberries ahead of time either since they would have gotten mushy. My husband saved me a lot of time on that too. He had an idea and went and bought me an egg slicer to cut them. It was a life saver. I had to do 3 dummy cakes on top of it covered with strawberries and glaze for pictures. I had to start really early that morning because I had to drive an hour there, plus we were invited to the wedding.
OMG, I do that all the time! And never realize it until you cut it and wonder why the crust is in a thousand pieces!
I ahve always wanted to try the one in the Whimsical Bakehouse book.....they called it Jackson Pollack and it looks fab!
OMG, I do that all the time! And never realize it until you cut it and wonder why the crust is in a thousand pieces!
I ahve always wanted to try the one in the Whimsical Bakehouse book.....they called it Jackson Pollack and it looks fab!
Thanks guys for the tips. This was my second cheesecake ever made. The first one came out better than the second one but I believe that was b/c I was rushing. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Practice makes perfect. I hope...
http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe%2Fknet_recipe_grid&u1=keyword&u2=pumpkin+cheesecake
their original cheesecake is a good one for beginners too.
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