Newbie Question: misjudged boil pot size with chiller

Hi all... first post here, been reading for a while. I'm a newbie brewer (on my fifth brew).

I just got a wort chiller and was planning on using it for the brew that is currently on my stove. Making an IPA from this recipe: http://redkart.com/cgi-bin/brew/ahbs/showrecepie.pl?a=simple_ipa

Anyway, even though the recipe says 2 Gallons in the brew kettle, I filled it to my normal level. But my first 4 brews were lower gravity, so I think I have misjudged how much volume the combination of extra LME AND a wort chiller would have on my 4 gallon kettle. In other words, I suspect when I drop the wort chiller in the kettle, I'm going to overflow.

So I'm fine for the boil, but I don't have ice/etc. set up for a water bath and I want to use my new wort chiller.

Here's my plan: when it comes time to put the wort chiller in the kettle to santize, I'm going to remove a half gallon or so of wort into a santized Pyrex and let that sit to the side and cool itself with a piece of foil over the top if I still need the room in the kettle. I do have a end of boil hop addition, which I'll just put in the kettle, and add this "extra" wort to the fermenter separately with only the bittering hops in it.

If anyone thinks this is a horrible idea, lemme know.

Thanks, love this place. Time to buy a bigger kettle anyway, as I'm taking a all-grain brewing class run by Ballast Point starting this weekend... so this is a one-time screw up and probably the last time I use this kettle.

Thanks!

That should work fine.

I think you'll be fine. Leaving room for a rolling boil + boil off should create the extra space for your chiller till you get a bigger pot. If not proceed as you planned.

Thanks...

I did as I planned and took out a quart or so, but the boil got me down far enough... and the chiller displaces less water than I anticipated ... so I was able to pour it back in the brew kettle after all.

Cheers!