Why You Should Make Cheesecake In A Slow Cooker
Creamy, luscious cheesecake is always a mouthwatering dessert, but if you've always baked it in your oven, you might be missing out on a trick that makes it even better. It's easy to overbake a cheesecake in the oven – especially if you don't make cheesecake very often – which can leave a bunch of unsightly cracks on top. However, you can make near-perfect cheesecake every time just by switching from using your oven to using a slow cooker.
According to Culinary Hill, cheesecake batter is delicate, so in order to make a light and airy dessert, it's best to cook it slowly and with plenty of moisture. That's why, if you decide to bake a cheesecake in your oven, most recipes recommend using a water bath. Putting the springform pan in a roasting pan filled with a few inches of water helps evenly distribute the heat and prevent potential problems, like browning on the top, cracks, and a sinking center. However, your slow cooker will also help distribute the heat evenly, and its low temperatures make it trickier to accidentally over bake the dessert.
How to make cheesecake in a slow cooker
You can also create a water bath in a slow cooker, and you don't need to use an extra pan to do it. According to The Kitchn, you can make a water bath for cheesecake in your slow cooker by setting a couple of balls of aluminum foil on the bottom to raise the cheesecake pan above the water level, then filling the base of the slow cooker with about a half-inch of warm water. Rest the springform pan on top of the balls of foil, and your cheesecake will slowly steam in the slow cooker. Just make sure you don't lift the lid while it's cooking, or the heat will escape.
According to Cookistry, you can skip the balls of aluminum foil if you want, and wrap the base of the springform pan in foil instead. This will guarantee that no water leaks from the water bath into your cheesecake batter as it slow cooks. It'll take about two hours to bake a cheesecake in your slow cooker, which is slower than the oven, but it's worth the extra wait time for the perfect creamy, silky texture.