Can a different oven cause a cake to fall?

[angela08]

Hi Everyone,

The stuff I cook in my oven usually turns out pretty well. It runs a little hot, but I've figured out how to work around that. But my boyfriend's oven is a completely different story. It seems like every time I try to cook a cake in that blasted oven, the cake falls. I've cooked muffins in there, and they seem to do okay, and it is true that his only cake pan looks like it was hammered out of a very thin tin can... but no matter how careful I am, the cakes I cook in that oven fall!

Now, I could could just stop making cakes in that oven, but here's the problem: I'm cooking a birthday dinner for him and his friends, and he really, really likes my cheesecake. It's going to take all day to make the dinner anyway, so it would make my life much easier if I could make the cheesecake at his place. (I work pretty late during the week, so cooking the cheesecake the day before and bringing it isn't really an option. Since I don't have space for all his friends, having the dinner at my place isn't really an option either.) But, given past experiences with his oven, I'm very hesitant to try cooking something as tempermental as a cheescake in there.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Morning Miss Anglea! Welcome to DC!! I'm not much of a baker so I really can't give your solid advice...However there are some excellent bakers here that can...In time they will chime in on your problems....In the mean time...Make yourself at home...

Have Fun & Enjoy!!

 

[Adillo303]

Good Morning Angela - Not an excellent baker here, but, I do OK. Have you tried the basic stuff?

1) Is the oven level?
2) Have you checked the temps with a thermometer?
3) Does the door bang when closed?

My cheesecake calls for baking for some time and then shutting the oven off and leaving the door closed for a couple hours afterwards. If your is similar, then does anyone, maybe Boyfriend, open the door for a shiff? As I recall, ther is not a lot of leavening in a cheesecake.

Hope this helps

AC

Oh! Yeah! Welcome to DC - Great people - great help - great place to hang.

 

[Andy M.]

It could very well be a temperature problem.

Cheesecake freezes very well. You could make it a weekend ahead of time and freeze it.

 

[angela08]

Thanks for the advice!
Adillo, what do you mean by "is the oven level"? Is there a way to check that?
If I get an oven thermometer, do you thiink that would help with temperature issues?
Freezing is a good idea. I'll think about that.
Thanks again!

 

[blissful]

If it was me...
1. bring an oven thermometer to test the oven temperature. A cooler than normal oven can leave a cake undercooked and then it can fail.
2. Are the leavening agents past prime? Eggs, cake mixes, baking powder--I'm assuming you're using his ingredients, check them for expiration dates. (and if they are kept in a cool area versus a hot area)
3. What Adillo said--don't open the oven when you are trying to maintain a good temperature and then it SLAMS, poof, the cake falls.
4. Are you using the right kind of flour, a cake flour, an all purpose flour, a self rising flour--according to your recipe?
5. Is the floor rumbling and shaking from aerobics being done adjacent to the oven, any kind of athletic activity in the kitchen? This could cause a cake to fail.
Hope one of these things is the culprit and you can avoid the problem in the future. Let us know how it went! ~Bliss

 

[Adillo303]

Angela08 - Put an ordinary torpedo level on a flat part of the cooktop heck level in 2 directions. ou fry eggs, they stay in the middle of the pan you are probably OK.

This is probably not your problem, but, while you are checking out the oven again.

 

[angela08]

Thanks for all the help, everyone!
I'm going to get an oven thermometer and try that first. I'm always pretty careful about slamming doors and banging ovens, so that's probably not it.

 

[PieSusan]

You can make one of Maida Heatter's cheesecake recipes that calls for the cheesecake to be made in a bain marie. The bain marie helps maintain a constant temperature and folks who have a hard time with cheesecakes can usually fare well with one of her recipes. She is probably my favorite baking book author.

 

[angela08]

Hey everyone,
Just an update: I invested in several oven thermometers, and discovered that while the oven does eventually get to the right temperature, it generally doesn't reach that temperature until about half an hour after the little indicator light says its reached that temperature. I waited until the oven was actually hot, and everything worked great.
Thanks for all the help!