Stovetop extract brewing with grains for flavor

[shlegminitism]

I am about to start brewing an oktoberfest (or something similar) from lme and adding grains to it, though due to my not being able to lager it, i am using a wlp001 california ale yeast and will be fermenting toward the low end of its recommended temperature. I was going to go with the wlp029 but they were out of it. Anyways, i just bought a 5 gallon brew pot, and i already had a 3 gallon pot, so i was thinking about trying to get as much brewing as possible because i hear/read that full boils are preferable to adding a concentrated tea to water in the fermenter.

What is the best way to do this? pros and cons?
I could do half water and malt extract/hops in each pot and steep in one pot = 1 full boil. But i read that steeping larger amounts of grain in smaller amounts of water can be beneficial. Should i use one pot just for steeping the grains while using the other to bring the extract to a boil and put 100% of the hops in and just combine in my fermenter after i cool them each before pitching?

ingredients list : (critiques/suggestions are always accepted graciously)
.25 lbs. german light munich
.15 lbs Crystal malt 90L
.35 German Vienna
.25 Caramalt
6.6 pounds liquid light malt extract
1 oz mt. hood at 60 min
1 oz saaz at 20 ( or should i throw half of this or all in at 5min instead)
1tbs irish moss

Thanks guys, love this forum

 

[shlegminitism]

and i have carapils instead of caramalt, i should add. they may be the same thing, i haven't learned the lingo completely yet.

 

[nebben]

It sounds like instead of steeping grains, you've got almost enough ingredients for a partial mash (German Munich+Vienna). With such a small amount of grains that will actually undergo starch conversion, I don't really see any benefits. I would instead just steep your Carapils and Crystal and forgo the other two. If you did want to mash, it will only increase your gravity by about three points if you get about 75% conversion, and I wonder if you would even be able to notice the flavor difference (if there is any at all).