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I've been baking New York cheesecake for a few years now and, with the help of various recipes and some experimentation, I've been able to get pretty close to the flavor and texture of the best New York cheesecakes I remember (or, at least think I remember!) from my childhood. However, one aspect of texture I'd like to improve is creaminess.

As much as I like the texture of the cheesecakes that I bake, whenever I compare them with cheesecakes from Studebaker, a local specialty baker in northern California, the Studebaker cheesecake has a more silky, smooth mouth feel.

Can anyone suggest ways to ways to achieve a creamier, silkier, smoother cheesecake texture? If it would help, I'm happy to add details of how I make my cheesecakes. For now, I'll just say that it's pretty close to this recipe, but I do it without the cherry topping: smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/new-york-cheesecake/.

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It's all in the temperature. See this answer. I do it a little bit different, but the idea is the same. High temp at first, low temp the rest of the way. – BaffledCook Jul 18 '12 at 16:38
Thanks @BaffledCook. I already use that cooking method and it's always given me pretty good results, but not as good as I'd like. If I want to experiment, what changes are more likely to give a silkier texture? Should I try lowering the temperature and cooking longer? Less/more time at an initial high temperature? Other possibilities? Thanks for any suggestions you might have. – eipi10 Jul 18 '12 at 17:15
I think I start at 175ºC for 10 min, then lower to 110ºC for 50 min. My oven handles that without having to turn it off and letting it cool. I'll check my notes tomorrow. – BaffledCook Jul 18 '12 at 20:33
Hahaha...... I just typed out an answer for this, and then realized that @BaffledCook linked to an old answer of mine that said the exact same thing I had just written... – mrwienerdog Jul 19 '12 at 12:48
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@mrwienerdog- I don't think this question is similar enough to the old question you answered to be closed as a duplicate. If you feel like your same answer applies as well to this question then I think you should undelete it. Perhaps refer to your older answer and add details about what in particular contributes to smoothness? – Sobachatina Jul 19 '12 at 16:39
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Okay, I undeleted my OP to this question (to be honest, not sure how similar the two are...., never checked that closely). The most important thing to watch for in terms of the 'silkiness' would be the mixing and ingredient temp. When all ingredients are at room temp, they homogonize much quicker, and require far less mixing, therefore less air is incorporated, making for a denser product. I think this should help.

Short of that, it could be recipe. A perfect cheesecake recipe is hard to find (luckily, I have one). Can I post it here? I don't think it's allowed.....

Answer I typed yesterday (sorry if it is essentially a dupe)..... I' @ work, don't have time to check too closely...

I have made thousands of cheesecakes. My pastry chef taught me how a method that has always worked:

  1. Always use room temperature ingredients. NEVER overmix, incorporation of air is your enemy Set your oven to 300 F (sorry, in Canada we are metric, but use Farenheit for baking).
  2. Place your cheesecake in a water bath. Bake for 30 minutes.
  3. Turn off the oven and open its door, allow the cheesecake to rest for 30 minutes, sitting in the oven in this state.
  4. After the thirty minute rest, carefully close the door, and set the oven to 300 F again. Bake another 30 minutes (I have sometimes had to go to 40 minutes depending on oven).

And that's it. Works every time. I am so thankful he taught me this. As an added bonus, you will get a cake that is flat like a board, with no cracks.

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Thanks mrwienerdog. I will give that a try. Can you post your recipe as well? I would love to see a perfect cheesecake recipe! – eipi10 Jul 21 '12 at 0:06
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After reading meta, I now understand why posting recipes is discouraged. @mrwienerdog I'm willing to post my email here if you're willing to email the recipe, but once again, I don't want to do that if it's against site etiquette. Alternatively, if you (@mrwienerdog) have an URL where you can post the recipe, please add a comment with the address. – eipi10 Jul 21 '12 at 14:27
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Sure... It might take me a bit, but I'll throw it up there... Just give me some time.. @vulpix and epi10, if you don't see anything in a week or so, post a reminder here, if you don't mind (I have a terrible memory). Also, thanks for not griefing me on my post (I thought it was VERY similar). I'd caught some grief a while ago from some sight members about some of my ansewrs, so I stopped posting here for quite some time. I felt things were getting sort of 'elitist'... – mrwienerdog Jul 21 '12 at 16:18
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I have absolutely no desire to cause grief to anyone who volunteers their time to share their expertise with me. Thanks @mrwienerdog. – eipi10 Jul 21 '12 at 17:00
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Don't worry, I can't stand the elitism often found on stackexchange. I don't mind waiting and one of us will remind you I'm sure. Thanks so much @mrwienerdog! – vulpix Jul 22 '12 at 21:25
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