Cheesecake

Step 9: Baking

Dump the bowl into your pan. Shake and smooth the pan out before sticking it in the oven. Set your oven to 235 degrees and bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Your cook time will vary on the size of your pan. After an hour, open the oven door for a minute and turn the oven off. Close the door and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for another hour. Don't worry if it doesn't look done yet, that's because its not. If you shake the pan, the center should still wiggle a bit. That extra hour should be enough for it to firm up.

Pull it from the oven and let it cool on the counter for an hour. When it cools, stick it in the fridge over night.

A note on water baths:
Some recipes call for placing the pie pan in a warm water bath while it cooks. The purpose is to slow the heating process so the eggs don't coagulate or something like that. Other recipes might want you to put a pan of water in the oven on a different rack to release some steam in the oven. I've tried both methods and never noticed a difference. I think my rather low cooking temperature negates the need for it. Other types of cheesecakes might benefit more from a water bath. But feel free to experiment yourself and see how it comes out.