Okay so Day 2 was indeed too dry.
They were not bready though, and just a bit rubbery.
Picture is a comparison of Day 1 and Day 2 for lunch....
Day 1 are on the right and you can see they've done their sloppy bursting thing....
I noticed where they had been defrosted for about 18 hours, one of them had started to break open and this reminded me that, unsurprisingly, sitting in moisture does indeed damage the casings
Day 2 is on the left as a trial. It did not burst but it shrank slightly which left the casing slightly wrinkled which was just gross and funny. As mentioned, just chewy...still tasted good, still wasn't bad in any sense but a bit chewy
Looking forward to making spaghetti and meatballs tonight with the day 2 mix...I'm not sure if it will absorb sauce or not after 24 hrs of the gluten sitting in a fairly dry but oily mixture...let's find out! I suspect they won't fall apart though which will be great.
Which has just made me think about agar....
Day 3 is clearly something in the middle - I'm now regretting following my dreams like I was chasing a butterfly because I don't really know ratios to start narrowing down what's needed. Time to at least weigh things.
And try some agar.
I did try that! I think it's still too wet and expanded lots/it just created a helpful seam to burst along.