Here's What Happens When You Bake Cheesecake In A Rice Cooker
While we usually don't advocate single-purpose gadgets, a rice cooker is far from a one-trick pony.
Baking cheesecake in a rice cooker is one of the many cooking fads hitting social media, but is this viral trick worth trying? Does it actually work? The simple answer is yes. But let's get into the nitty-gritty. As strange as it sounds, there's a good reason a rice cooker can pull off a surprisingly good bake. Cheesecakes are finicky: They require gentle heat to avoid overcooking and developing large cracks, so they're often baked in a bain-marie. As it turns out, that's exactly where a rice cooker shines. It keeps moisture locked in, preventing the cheesecake from drying out. Better yet, it maintains a steady 180-degree Fahrenheit temperature, right in the sweet spot for baking cheesecake.
There are some caveats. First, ensure your rice cooker is big enough to fit your preferred cheesecake recipe. Ideally, it should have a capacity of at least 4 cups. If your rice cooker is too large, you may need to double the recipe. Otherwise, you could wind up with a cake that's disappointingly flat. Do not overfill it, or the cleanup won't be worth the effort. It's also important for the cooker to have a nonstick pot, but you should still grease it before use, or the cheesecake may stick.
Not every cheesecake is created equal
There are as many cheesecake recipes out there as there are people who love them, and some will work better in a cooker. The four main styles of cheesecake are no-bake cheesecake, Japanese cheesecake, New York-style cheesecake, and Basque cheesecake.
Of these styles, you wouldn't use a rice cooker for a no-bake cheesecake as it doesn't require any cooking, nor would you use it for a Basque cheesecake. The latter needs ample heat to achieve its signature golden-brown, caramelized-to-almost-charred top. New York-style and Japanese cheesecakes are far better suited to the rice cooker treatment.
A classic New York-style cheesecake is dense and creamy, baked over a graham cracker crust. That can create a few challenges in a rice cooker, where par-baking the crust isn't really an option and unmolding requires a bit of finesse. It is possible, however, and a layer of parchment paper at the bottom of the pot goes a long way toward making the process easier. Japanese cheesecakes, on the other hand, are light and airy. Beaten egg whites give them an almost soufflé-like texture, and the lack of a crust makes them particularly well-suited to a rice cooker.
Feeling adventurous? Many of your favorite baked cheesecake recipes can be adapted to this method, but be sure to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Most cheesecakes take between 60 and 90 minutes in the rice cooker. Unless you have a top-notch rice cooker with a cake or bread setting, such as the TOSHIBA OriginTaste Rice Cooker, you may need to restart or reset the timer multiple times. This is worth considering if you're in the market for a new rice cooker and eager to give this hack a try.
