I have never made a savory cheesecake. Have to think about that. I do love cheesecake. I use this one frequently, even when I vary the topping. Sometimes it's good to make and add a little extra crust so that it goes further up the sides.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cranberry Cointreau Cheesecake

I always put the bottom crust in the pan and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. This prevents soggy bottoms.

I do as Dees does. A shortbread type crust, or a graham wafer crust. Both get pre-baked.
I make a refrigerated cheesecake that we like better than the super-rich baked ones. This one is a graham wafer crust, whipped cream, cream cheese and cherry pie filling. Because it's refrigerated and not baked, the crust can be refrigerated for a time to set it, then filled and the whole thing refrigerated until set.

I'm surprised the book does not trouble-shoot failures. Can you find the book recipes discussed on-line somewhere? Find anyone with the same trouble?
Maybe your ingredients, even using weight, has a bit more liquid?
You could try setting the crust in the freezer for 1/2 hour before baking. I do that with savory tarts that have butter in the crust.

I also pre-bake the crusts for 15 minutes or so, then add the filling and bake.

Thanks to KatieC, I do have a recipe for savory cheesecake, which I top with Habanero Gold Jelly, but it doesn't have a crust/base at all. In fact, I flip it upside down onto the plate, remove the metal pan/bottom and top with the jelly and no one even sees the bottom of it.

Annie

I tried the lemon ricotta one : base as above, filling :
750g ricotta, juice of 6 lemons,120g sugar and 4 eggs. The topping was lovely but the base soggy.

Then I tried the salmon one:
base : 70g butter, 200g Tuc biscuits ( a salty savoury cracker)
filling : 200g smoked salmon.
300g cream cheese
300g fromage blanc
2 eggs
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper
mix it all up ane bake for 50 mins.
Again, delicious but soggy bottom!

I'll try baking the bottom first. Thank you for all the tips.

This post was edited by islay_corbel on Thu, Mar 13, 14 at 3:52

You'll find cheesecakes rarely have a crispy crust, even pre-baked crusts. That's what happens with custard-type cakes - it is the nature of the beast.

You could seal the crust with a lightly-beaten egg white (pre-bake the crust; remove from the oven to cool; brush on beaten egg white and place in the oven again to bake a few minutes longer; cool crust completely before adding filling).
This method works with both, sweet and savory cheesecakes.

Another tip for sweet cheesecakes is to create a barrier by 'painting' the crust with melted chocolate. Allowing the chocolate to completely set, before pouring in the filling.

And, there are times, when I omit the crust altogether, lining the pan with a round of parchment paper instead. Baked cheesecakes hold up well without a crust.

Which reminds me, if you still want a crust on your cheesecake, add it on last.
By that I mean, once the cake is baked and cooled, pat the loose crumbs onto the cake by hand (needless to say, this works best with small cheesecakes, as it would be awkward with cakes larger than 8-inches).

Sol

Ooooh, I love the idea of adding the crumb after baking! Thank you all again.

I'd forgotten about the egg white. That can give a good seal. I know pastry chefs will work on a dessert a dozen or more times before presenting as a special or menu addition.
A cookbook can get rushed to printing and miss some key details. If you are happy with the filling but not the crust, and want to make it again, do some testings.
The biscuit may need a finer grinding, and a bit less butter. A chill, then pre-bake, egg wash, then a minute or two bake. Too long of a pre-bake and you might get a hard brittle crust.
(or too much butter)
Ovens work differently. If i use my small iron baking pan under a tart shell, i get a nice solid crust even with soft fruit. If i use the tin round pizza pan, so i can spin it easily half way for even baking, i sacrifice the good bottom crust, oy. My oven is uneven top to bottom so i place in the lower third for bottom heat and top third for meat/veg pies with a top crust...