I spent 3 weekends chasing a cracked cheesecake, then realized it was my oven rack

I kept getting these ugly cracks right down the middle of my cheesecakes, so I tried water baths, lower temps, even a new pan. Then after my third failed attempt in a row, I noticed the rack was vibrating slightly whenever the oven cycled on. Turns out a bent rack was causing uneven heat and sudden jolts to the batter. Anyone else fixed a baking mystery with a dumb equipment fix instead of a recipe change?

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robinson.paul27d ago

Oh yeah I had a buddy who swore her homemade pasta was garbage for months, kept blaming the recipe and the flour. Then her husband found a loose screw on the mixer head that was making the attachment wobble just enough to overknead everything. She was so mad she almost threw the whole mixer out the window.