Baking a cheesecake. How to use the water bath?
One uses a water bath to prevent over-cooking or crusting on foods that are vulnerable to intense heat, like cheesecakes and bread puddings, etc. This ensures that the cheescake will be more consistently creamy throughout, (rather than creamy towards the center and cakey on the outside). If unsure about how much water to put in, place the pan into a larger pan (like a broiler,eg), and pour in enough water so that it comes up to 1/2 to 2/3 the side of the smaller pan. One more hint: heat or boil the water for the bath prior to baking so as to not hinder or slow the baking process. It can be a little tricky moving a cheesecake in a water bath to and from the oven, but with a steady hand and plenty of room to move, you should be fine. As for placing the water in a rack below, this is better than not, however, it will only affect the top of your cheescake and not the entire cake. The humidity will prevent some cracking but a bath is the most effective and moderates the application of heat
