This is an old thread, but just in case anyone is wondering ... I have tried the wooden spoon method to prevent boilovers and it mostly works. However If it's a particularly vigourous hot break then only an eagle eye and removing from the heat will work - the wooden spoon is not enough.
Go for it, works great for me! :)
I do small batch (10 litre) brews, with an 8 litre pre-boil volume in a 9.5 litre pot on my gas stove. To get the pre-boil volume I mash 2kg grain in 6 litres of water doing BIAB in a 10 litre Esky beverage cooler, then sparge with another 4 litres. I end up...