Place a rimmed baking sheet on the lowest rack of your oven, and preheat oven to 300°F.
Mix together the melted butter and crushed graham crackers. Then, press them into the bottom and lower sides of a spring form pan.
Cream 3 blocks of cream cheese with 1/4 cup of sugar. Stream in the condensed milk, mixing until smooth. In a small bowl, beat the eggs. With the mixer running, add eggs slowly into the cream cheese mixture. Add in the lemon juice and vanilla bean, mixing slowly until incorporated.
Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust. Firmly tap* the pan against the counter (like you're dropping it on the counter at a height of one or two inches) to bring the air bubbles to the surface. You might use a toothpick to pop stubborn bubbles.
Place the cheesecake on the top rack of the oven. Pour a cup of room temperature water into the rimmed baking sheet on the lower rack. Promptly shut the oven.
Bake for 75 minutes at 300°F. Turn off the heat and leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 2 hours. Remove and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
In a medium mixing bowl, whip the remaining block of cream cheese with 1 tsp vanilla extract until a little smoother. Stream in the whipping cream, until thinned out and smooth. Then, whip until voluminous and fluffy. Spread mixture over the top of the cheesecake. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate overnight.
To serve, run a paring knife under hot water and carefully trace the knife between the crust and the springform pan. Gently unlatch the pan and remove the base from the sides. Clean the knife, and run under hot water again to cut cake into slices.
Notes
*By "firmly tap," I mean it should make a good loud bang. You really want to force those air bubbles to the surface. Do this repeatedly, a good 10 to 15 times to makes sure the majority of the bubbles rise and pop.
Keyword Cheesecake, Graham Cracker Crust, Vanilla, Vanilla Bean