That 1970s hot water bath trick is legit, I had the same result when my kitchen was sitting at like 68 degrees and my butter block kept cracking with the counter rest. Dunking the bowl just long enough to soften the edges evenly beats waiting around forever, and the dough rolled out way smoother with fewer tears. Give the bath a few more rounds and see if the cracking stays down, because it sure did for me.

Did you check if the sell by date on that 2 lb bag was actually fresher, or was it just priced lower? I ask because I've seen the same thing at my store where the older rice gets marked down but then it cooks up kind of mushy and I end up tossing half of it. If the cheap bag is old too then you're not really saving anything. Also curious if the unit price tag was actually right on the shelf or if you had to scan it at the register to catch the difference.