Cheesecakes in Convection?

[TapTapper]

Hello All

We have had good success selling cheesecakes that we've made in electric ovens in a catering kitchen. We are now interested in increasing our production by using the big ovens in a different room.

My question: can you make cheesecake in those big convection ovens that spin a rack? I'm sorry, I don't know what they are called. You roll a rack (holding full sheet pans) into the oven, and when you start it the oven lifts the rack and spins it while it's baking.

We use a 1" waterbath in the standard ovens, but I guess that's out of the questions for the spinners. For our recipe the settling period while it's cooling is crucial to the final texture; will the spinning change the final product? We have made carrot cake in the spinners and they came out perfectly, I'm just concerned about the spinning for cheesecakes.

We cound run a test, but then we'd be paying $150+ just in room rent to make a couple cakes, so I'm trying to find out if it's worth a try before we make the commitment. I'd appreciate any advice on large-scale cheesecake production.

TIA
--Pat

[panini]

Pat,
The rotary oven can be used for cheese cake if a couple of things are in place. There is almost always variable fan speeds. You will need to use the low or off setting. You don't necessarily have to omitt the h20. Most of the American ovens will usually jolt into the spin cycle which makes it hard to add the water. You can use collars so as not to create a tsunami and keep the waves to a minimum. You can also tape down the spin button and get the rack spinning with the door open before putting in the water. This is a little tricky and you need to be careful. If you have all your water on hand it can be done in a timely fashion and you won't lose to much temp. This won't work if your formula need a quick kick when starting.
Someone might pop on and suggest the steam button. I'm opposed to that.
Your biggest problem is that there is really no way to tell if you will have succdess untill you try it. Maybe run a carrot formula and put in a few cheese cake to see what happens.
The settling/cooling at the end can usually be done the same way as with your regular oven. If the rotary has steam for bread you may want to open the damper to remove steam before leaving the door ajar.
If you think this will reduce time and monies, I think it's worth a try.
If you have specific question on the oven, please don't hesitate to PM, I've played with alot of the from American Baxters to Pavillion Fr.
Good luck
Panini

[shaloop]

I just started using a commercial kitchen to make desserts to sell to local restaurants/coffee shops. My first baking day was Monday and I have a "new" used half size Hobart Convection oven. Almost all of the cheesecakes that I baked in it were a flop. I ended up using the regular (standard home type) oven but of course it took longer as it doesn't hold as much. I need to learn how to use the convection oven. The fan blows pretty hard and can't be turned off. I bake in a waterbath. The water evaporates very quickly. Any tips?

[even stephen]

Cheesecakes in the altosham not water bath, overnight.
They rock and they are always perfect. Anybody else
do it. Also the most moist spongecakes I have seen.
No brushing with liquore or simple syrup. I am a novice
though. What do you think

[kuan]

Originally Posted by even stephen

Cheesecakes in the altosham not water bath, overnight.
They rock and they are always perfect. Anybody else
do it. Also the most moist spongecakes I have seen.
No brushing with liquore or simple syrup. I am a novice
though. What do you think

Yes they come out perfect, the cheesecakes.

[shaloop]

I don't have an altosham. Only a convection oven with a very strong fan that can't be turned off. Any hope for me?

[chefpeon]

Originally Posted by shaloop

I don't have an altosham. Only a convection oven with a very strong fan that can't be turned off. Any hope for me?

Well, shaloop, that's all I have at work now, myself......(really strong fan, too)
In fact, I plan on baking some cheesecakes tomorrow. I plan on putting them in a waterbath and baking at about 275 (convection). I'm sure they'll be fine....but I'll let you know how it goes......

[shaloop]

Originally Posted by chefpeon

Well, shaloop, that's all I have at work now, myself......(really strong fan, too)
In fact, I plan on baking some cheesecakes tomorrow. I plan on putting them in a waterbath and baking at about 275 (convection). I'm sure they'll be fine....but I'll let you know how it goes......

Will you cover them with anything? How long do they cook? I'd love to hear how it turns out and any resulting tips you come up with.

[TapTapper]

Originally Posted by even stephen

Cheesecakes in the altosham not water bath, overnight.

What's an altosham? And you cook them overnight?? 8 hours?

[Frayedknot]

Pat, I use a "big oven" every day (cept today I am off ) and I would have to agree with Pan. The spinning is a tough thing... When I am baking quiche, egg or coconut custard it is always a trick to hope the jerky start does not spill the contents over the side. Messing up sheet pans and the burnt look on the crust is less than acceptable to me, (but the boss does not care ) Maybe just a little less batter in the cheese cakes would help out here.

Pan, I can not imagine placing a sheet pan full of quiches in the oven while the rack is spinning...recipe for disaster...for me. I use a cookie rack and then place a sheet pan directly on top of the product to deflect the "wind" and then remove when they are set and the tops can brown.

Best of luck

[panini]

Pan, I can not imagine placing a sheet pan full of quiches in the oven while the rack is spinning...recipe for disaster...for me. I use a cookie rack and then place a sheet pan directly on top of the product to deflect the "wind" and then remove when they are set and the tops can brown.



knot,
I would never try that either. I may have been confusing in my post. The rack with the filled cakes are already on sheet pans with collars in the oven. With the door open, I hold or tape the lever that starts the spin. This is when I add the water. I don't think I would be able to fill quiche this way.
pan

[Frayedknot]

Pan, thanks for the clarification. I read almost everyone of your posts... your "speriance" speaks volumes... and I like your thinking alot.. just was wondering "how he do dat" and trying to figger out how the master teaches THAT...

Thanx again and thanks for all your posts I for one appreciate your input and time spent on this forum.

[chefpeon]

Baking in a waterbath in a spinning Baxter....hmmmmmm.
I used to bake a lot of stuff in a Baxter (spinning convection oven), but I can't recall I did cheesecakes in it......I don't think I did. I also had "regular" convection ovens, and I'm pretty sure I used those for the cheesecake......it's all so fuzzy now. (It's been 10 years since that job...yikes.) However I do recall that sudden "jerk" that would happen upon the start of closing the oven door and the spin......I did creme brulees in there, and I had to make sure that the brulees were in at least a 2 inch deep hotel pan, and that the waterbath only went about a 1/4 inch up the sides of the cups.....otherwise the water would splash up over the tops of the brulee cups. It worked out ok actually.
So I imagine that if you bake your cheesecakes in a waterbath in a spinning convection oven, you would place your cheesecakes in a two inch deep hotel pan on a sheet pan, load the sheet pans into the oven, pour your water into the hotel pans, not more than a 1/4 to a half inch deep.
There would be initial "wave action" upon the beginning of the spin, but not enough to get into the cheesecake. The height of the hotel pan would be enough to stop the water from splashing down onto the cheesecakes below it........yes?

Ok.....shaloop.....I baked off my cheesecakes today!
I set my oven at 250. I was going to do 275, but my experience with that oven so far has been that it runs hot, so I figured to err on the side of lower temp. I placed my cheesecakes on a sheet pan in the oven, then poured my water into the sheet pan so the water came up about a 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Closed doors.....hoped for the best.
After an hour I checked them......they were looking great! All I had to do was watch my water level, as the oven evaporates the water pretty quickly. I refilled my sheet pans once during the bake. It took nearly two hours for them to bake, and they came out great! No discoloration, cracking or waves in the surface from the fan. Note: I did place the pans of cheesecakes on the lower two shelves, below the level of the fan, which is in the back of the oven, right in the center.

So....I had zero problem with it. I'm no longer scared. Hope you won't be either!

[shaloop]

Thanks Anne! I'm going to be trying again Monday. You've given me hope!

[shaloop]

I tried again today. I baked two cheesecakes. Same batter divided into two pans. 250 degrees. Water bath. One cheesecake covered tightly with foil, one not covered. The uncovered one appeared done in 1 hour. The covered one took two hours to seem done. After cooling, the uncovered one looked great. The one that had been covered had developed a crack. I'm thinking I may have overbaked the covered one, leading to the crack. But, it really didn't look done. Also, the crack didn't appear until about a half hour after removing from the oven, while cooling on the counter. Final analysis tomorrow after chilling overnight and cutting.


Well, the texture of the cheesecakes is off. I've been using this recipe for years. They should be dense and creamy. These (baked yesterday) are somewhat "fluffy"? They aren't "smooth". I sliced them today but the slices broke when trying to remove them. They are too soft. I even had trouble slicing them. I want to cry. I was supposed to deliver samples to a few business today but there's no way I'm delivering these. I guess I"ll be using the regular oven and just doing 4 at a time until I can figure out what to do.