Simple enough point. Bowls dry without trouble on their own. They dry more rapidly in lower humidity conditions whether or not they are soaked, soused, boiled or chanted over. So, is any intervention necessary? Probably not. I can cite the sources on evaporative loss rate from end grain if you doubt the physical evidence provided by end checks on sound logs or boards.
You acknowledge a warm and dehumidified environment, and failures, yet draw the conclusion that your alcohol soak makes them dry more rapidly and crack less. One can only ask, compared to what? Leaving a fresh piece in a warmed and dehumidified environment without controlling evaporation in a paper bag? I'd say the bag would definitely help with cracks, given your conditions. I place my spun-out turnings in open air until surface dry, then put them in a sheltered place to relax. If I want them right away, I increase the evaporative rate by placing them in an area of lower relative humidity. I am not heated/cooled or dehumidified, so they are at no time under the stress you would put them under without the paper. It is also a method followed many turners for years and years. I know I didn't originate it.
I'm sure you're satisfied with the results of your efforts. I'm satisfied with the similar results of my neglect. The reference to the halo effect was a reminder that we all must be aware of the natural desire to succeed which can color the results of our own experimentation. Absent any scientific reason why this would work any better because of evaporative loss versus centrifugal loss of unbound water, I'm inclined to pass it by. Same with dish detergent, freezing, and boiling/microwaving, which may have some merit, because we know steamed wood is more plastic.