Place the entire water bath containing the cheesecake in a 300-degree preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour and reduce heat to 200 degrees for 1 more hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in until the oven is completely cool. The cheesecake can even be left overnight at this point. Your cheesecake should be slightly golden across the top.
Cracks can also occur when a cheesecake cools too quickly.
It may be beneficial to run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake, separating it from the sides of the pan. Ideally, cheesecake should be served on the pan in which it was cooked. A nice garnish will hide the bottom of the spring form pan and it can be placed on top of a very nice serving dish. If your goal is to serve the cheesecake on a different dish without the bottom of the spring form pan, then the pan can be lined with parchment paper before the crust is pressed in. This will make for easy removal of the cheesecake later.