well, I got the bittering hops in, then the element died. It sat at 207-209F for about 40 minutes, then I realized there was no way this was going to reach a boil again, switched elements, and climbing to a boil now. In several years of brewing, never had an element fail.
On the plus side, it was only the bittering hops, so boil time is less important. I assume it will still taste good, any one had this happen before?
I confirmed that the element died by sticking the chiller in and seeing the temp dive (which is normally very brief) and then not increase again.
The 7 layers of reflectix insulation I have on the brewpot really keeps the temp.