Best way to finish with 5 gallons starting using a 5 gallon pot?

For my first try at AG I want to try AHS's Piloncillo Brown Ale by batch sparging in a 10gallon cooler.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12701

Although I don't know the exact recipe, it calls for 8.5lbs of base malt and 2lbs of specialty malt.

What's the best way to end up with 5 gallons of beer if I only have a 5 gallon kettle (and a 1 gallon stainless pot)?
1. Steep specialty grains instead of mashing so that the mash is thinner to help with extraction?
2. Add back DME at the end?
3. Add extra base malt to compensate for poor efficiency in thick mash?
4. Use proper mash volume (3.5 gallons) and skimp on the sparge volume?
5. Use proper water volumes and boil like crazy in a 1 gallon pot to compensate for what doesn't fit in the 5 gallon pot (It's a dark brown, so caramelizing sugars shouldn't be a huge deal)?

RogerMcAllen said:

What's the best way to end up with 5 gallons of beer if I only have a 5 gallon kettle (and a 1 gallon stainless pot)?

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Well, you'll need to boil about 6.5 gallons. I'd get another bigger pot and split the boil in half, or do a 2.5 gallon batch.

I've made many batches in 5 gallon kettles before getting 2 10 gallon ones and have filled the 5 up to about a 1/2 inch of the top, started boiling, and continued collecting the rest of the wort in a covered bucket. I would add that to the boil kettle as volume permitted. Yes, it does extend the brew day a bit, but you don't need to adjust mash water/grain amounts, add dme to compensate, etc. I wouldn't skimp on the sparge volume; you'll leave too many precious sugars behind.

avidhomebrewer said:

I've made many batches in 5 gallon kettles before getting 2 10 gallon ones and have filled the 5 up to about a 1/2 inch of the top, started boiling, and continued collecting the rest of the wort in a covered bucket. I would add that to the boil kettle as volume permitted. Yes, it does extend the brew day a bit, but you don't need to adjust mash water/grain amounts, add dme to compensate, etc. I wouldn't skimp on the sparge volume; you'll leave too many precious sugars behind.

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Ok, full mash and sparge it is. I'm assuming that I can add hops at the point that I know all of the sparge water will fit in the 5 gallon kettle by the end of the boil once I establish my evaporation rate? (If I evaporate 0.5 gallons an hour, I can start the hops when I have 0.5 gallons of sparge water left to add).

RogerMcAllen said:

Ok, full mash and sparge it is. I'm assuming that I can add hops at the point that I know all of the sparge water will fit in the 5 gallon kettle by the end of the boil once I establish my evaporation rate? (If I evaporate 0.5 gallons an hour, I can start the hops when I have 0.5 gallons of sparge water left to add).

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What I've done in this situation is to add the bittering hops to the kettle once all the wort is in. Yes, you will end up adding water back (about 1/2 gallon, depending upon evaporation rate) and you may need to add more bittering hops to account for the higher-than-expected wort gravity.

Collect runnings roughly like this...

4 1/2 gal in the 5 gal pot
3/4 gal in the 1 gal pot
1 gallon in bucket

Get both pots boiling and add bittering hops to your large kettle and boil down in volume, and replenish w/ boiling wort from the small pot to maintain 4 1/2 gallons. Replenish the small pot w/ runnings from the bucket. Now here is the tricky part. You need to guestimate when you will be reduced to 5 gallons and "reverse" time or subtract back to know when to add flavor and aroma hops to end at you desired five gallons.

FYI, it is easier and safer IMO to "top up" a kettle near the rim while boiling rather than starting near the rim and boiling. Avoiding a boilover is paramount!