Nick,
If you dont have a freezer portion of your walk-in, you can get a small portable one that places use and it doesnt cost that much. I know many places I have worked used portable units when they didnt need the full blown versions.
You arent forced to make the cake yourself, but doing so it is BETTER if done correctly than any brand, I dont care what kind it is. Fresh made cheesecake cooled on site versus frozen and shipping should outsell any brand you can buy.
I also wanted to add that the pans are simple spring form pans, very easy to find and not expensive, but you can buy higher quality pans and re-use with no big deal.
If you dont see the value in making it yourself, that is what your distributor is for…making margin off selling YOU stuff they get second hand.
It is easy, I have made cheesecake personally for 10 yrs and I can attest it is more simple than opening a bunch of cans and hand mixing sauce, or hobarting some cheese and probably takes as much time as a few batches of dough.
Real cheesecake eaters NEVER buy crap from most any restaraunt, rather make it themselves because 90% of cheesecake out there sucks.
Oh and just google cheesecake recipe and you can find ANY style from pumpkin to rasp swirl to mocha to turtle…
To me it is similiar to buying canned sauce and using it straight, or do you make it fresh or BETTER than the other guy and take a few minutes to do so knowing the customer will return because of the quality product…
Oh and here is a standard cheesecake recipe for FREE and it is GOOD.
Cheesecake-
3 packages of cream cheese softened
1 pint sour cream
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
vanilla/amaretto (I dont put in a set ammt, rather to taste)
Graham cracker crust (crackers, butter, some sugar if you like) pressed into the bottom of a spring form pan. Let sit in walkin until crust is a bit firm (you dont want the loose crumbs to blend in with the cheesecake mix)
Mix cheesecake batter, pour into pan
Oven at 325-350 and cook for about an hour. Top will be golden brown and knife will come out clean.
Let cool completely, THEN put in walkin. I would let sit in walkin for 3 hrs, divide and then freeze if you wanted to.
Key to a good cheesecake- completely soften cream cheese, not by microwave…beat with sugar and sour cream, and make sure it is smooth, then add eggs. (if you mix with eggs for a long time it can damage the cheesecake)