New York Cheesecake

Method

1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan in two layers of heavy-duty foil, pressing it flat up the sides so no water can seep into the seam.
2. Stir the graham crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar and melted butter until the mixture looks like wet sand. Press it firmly into the pan bottom and 1 inch up the sides using the flat base of a measuring cup. Bake 10 minutes and cool while you mix the filling.
3. Beat the room-temperature cream cheese alone on medium-low for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl twice, until completely smooth with no lumps. Lumps present now will still be there after baking — cold cream cheese never fully smooths out.
4. Add the 1.5 cups sugar and beat 2 minutes more, then the sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and salt, mixing just to combine. Keep the mixer on low from here: air beaten into the batter expands in the oven and then collapses, and that is what tears the surface.
5. Add the eggs and yolk one at a time on the lowest speed, mixing only until each disappears, about 15 seconds each. Scrape the bowl bottom with a spatula and fold by hand a few times to catch unmixed batter.
6. Pour the batter over the cooled crust and rap the pan firmly on the counter 5 or 6 times to release trapped bubbles. Set it in a roasting pan and pour boiling water into the outer pan to come 1 inch up the sides.
7. Bake 85 to 95 minutes. It is done when the outer 2 inches look set and matte and the center 3 inches still wobbles as a single unit when you nudge the pan — like gelatin, not like liquid. The center reads 150°F. A cheesecake baked until the middle is firm is already overbaked.
8. Turn the oven off, prop the door open with a wooden spoon and leave the cheesecake in the cooling oven for 1 hour. Sudden temperature drops contract the surface faster than the interior, which is the other cause of cracks.
9. Lift the pan out of the water bath, remove the foil and run a thin knife around the inside edge to free the cake from the sides. Cool to room temperature on a rack, about 2 hours.
10. Refrigerate uncovered at least 8 hours, ideally overnight, before unlatching the ring. The texture is not finished until it is fully cold. Slice with a hot, dry knife, wiping it clean between cuts.