When boiling with steam, do you really think that it makes much of a difference (maillard/darkening etc) over direct fire? Especially in light of the fact that most of the heat would be dissipated through the outer jacket and not into the wort? As I understand it, the benefit of steam comes mainly from its ability to dissipate evenly around the vessel. If you have to use electricity then I can see that an immersion element might be too high of a watt density, but really isn't direct fire gas esp with a clad bottom a low enough watt density to practically eliminate unwanted scorching/darkening? Sorry that is a run on I think. Nice setup, looks very space probe-y!