Alternatives for a Bain Marie in making Cheesecake

Recently had another failure in baking a cheesecake (NYC style) from leaking into my springform pan inside a Bain Marie. I am wondering if I could use a 9" cake pan filled with boiling water on the rack beneath my cheesecake as it bakes and achieve similar results to using a Bain Marie? I am aware that there are things such as "slow cooker liners'' but they're not available where I live. Any help is appreciated, thank you in advance - Greg

Greg
  • Posted by: Greg
  • January 27, 2019
  • 10981 views
  • 11 Comments

11 Comments

Kim
Kim October 16, 2021
Buy a large disposable foil pie plate from the Dollar Store and carefully bend the sides up around your cheesecake pan and place that in the water bath. I have been using the same $1 foil pan for many cheesecakes and it works like a dream - dry as a bone - and none of my cheesecakes crack baking in the water bath.
 
Ilimaryy
Ilimaryy February 4, 2021
Hello Greg! Did you try placing the pan with water on the rack under the cheesecake? How did it work? Thank you!
 
JP
JP January 28, 2019
I always wrap my springform pan with aluminum foil before putting it in a water bath..
 
Greg
Greg January 29, 2019
Thank you.... I do the same but sometimes it rips/tears and water gets in. No one has actually answered my question...

"I am wondering if I could use a 9" cake pan filled with boiling water on the rack beneath my cheesecake as it bakes and achieve similar results to using a Bain Marie?"
 
Smaug
Smaug January 29, 2019
No. The Bain Marie regulates the temperature of the pan, keeping hot spots from developing.
 
Clotield
Clotield November 9, 2019
Hi Greg, i have made cheesecakes using a 9x13 pan full of water on the rack beneath the cheesecake with excellent results. I have never seen a difference than when I bake using a Bain Marie
 
boulangere
boulangere January 28, 2019
You can totally ditch the springform pan. I love teaching that to cheesecake bakers. \

https://thesolitarycook.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/mango-cheesecake-the-baking/
https://thesolitarycook.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/cappuccino-baileys-cheesecake/
 
Nancy
Nancy January 29, 2019
Wonderful! So this is how the regular pan works! Will change my baking..this makes sense. Thank you.
 
Jennifer W.
Jennifer W. January 28, 2019
Personally, I've never used a water bath for my NY Cheesecake and its fantastic. I have a "famous" no fail, frequently requested family recipe if you're interested.
 
Nancy
Nancy January 27, 2019
I have not had this problem, but have read about a couple solutions...while still using the water-bath (which evens out the heat and cooking).
One is to bake the cheesecake in a round regular pan (whether made of metal or silicone) and so avoid the problem of the leaking spring-form pan.
But then serving is hard...you have to scoop out at least the first and maybe other servings.
Another is to wrap the spring-form pan in plastic food wrap and/or foil before putting it in the bain-marie.
Reduces or eliminates water getting into cheesecake & still easy to serve.
A third was to buy and use a spring-form made of silicone (reputedly leaks less or not at all).
Have a look around for more info, and see if one of these approaches works for you.
 
Smaug
Smaug January 27, 2019
I wonder what ever happened to cheesecake pans- one piece pans about 3" deep made specifically for cooking cheesecakes in a BainMarie (no removable bottoms, very round corners)- they used to be fairly easy to come across. There are cheesecakes that bake dry too, I'm sure I saw a recipe here recently with a sour cream topping; or see Maida Heatter's (she seems to have covered everything) Cream Cheese Pie from her Book of Great Desserts.
 
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