Ingredients:

Crust

1 package (4.5 – 5 oz) chocolate Graham crackers

1 TBS caster sugar

4 TBS unsalted butter (melted)

Batter

2 1/2 lb cream cheese (room temp) 5 packages? pd

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 large egg yolks

6 large eggs (beat in separate bowl)

2 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325º

Break up graham crackers, pulse in food processor to break up into small pieces -Do Not Pulverize-

Mix with melted butter and sugar

Add mixture to springform pan.  Press down with flat bottom glass (spoon around edges)

Bake at 325º for 12 min. Cool.

Preheat oven to 500º

Cut cream cheese into small chunks and with whisk attachment, add to stand mixer while beating on low until smooth. Stop to clear whisk as needed. About 2 – 4 minutes.

Once smooth, add 1/3 sugar and salt.  Beat until mixed while scraping sides. Repeat with 1/3 sugar until all incorporated.

Mix in lemon juice and vanilla. Scrape sides. Slowly add cream while mixing.

Add egg yolks, mix until blended.

Add eggs slowly (one at a time) just until blended.  Don’t over-mix.

Pour into springform pan with cooled crust.

Place in 500º oven for 10 minutes.  Do Not Open Door.  Lower temp to 200º.

Bake for 1 hr 10 min to 1 hr 25 min.  Check temp in center at 1 hr 10 min, min 150º.

Remove from oven to cooling rack.

10 min later run knife around edge while releasing springform tension.  Leave ring on.

Cool on counter for ~1 hrs.

Cover with plastic wrap. Cool in fridge 1 hr.

Remove plastic wrap and ring.  Return to fridge and cool at least 5 hrs. Overnight is best.

The slower it cools the less surface cracking there will be. Overmixing can also result in more cracking. It will taste the same.

If after cooling you realize the center is underdone (very creamy) just freeze pieces. We cut off and eat the fully cooked rim and freeze the creamy center in half piece sized cheesecake pops.  This works great for those nights we want a quick cool dessert after a spicy dinner.

Cheesecake freezes well.  We vacuseal it so we can easily accelerate the thawing process.  Like lasagna, it is best to defrost in the fridge the night before. It will be perfect for dessert the next evening.  For last minute dinner plans, we put the vacusealed bag in a bowl of cold water (~40 well water) as we start dinner.  We change the water once or twice and remove any ice that forms on the plastic. We avoid microwave reheating as Paul said it isn’t worth over cooking it to avoid a cold cheesecake.