I've always wondered how those kettles are. Is the SS pretty solid?
I too was doing 7 gallons in a 7.5 gallon kettle, but ungraded to a 10 gallon Megapot. Even now it's still pretty close to the top ( boiling 8-9 gallons of wort to end up with 6 ), but a few drops of Fermcap-S puts my mind at ease a bit.