I am actually fairly new myself, I have brewed eight 5 gallon batches on an electric coil range with a 16 quart kettle (partial boil) and have yet to have a boil over.
So what I do is this. First, I do keep a bottle of clean sanitary water at hand in a spray bottle. Second, I watch that pot like a hawk. They say a watched pot never boils but we brewers know that a watched pot in the brewing business WILL boil and better watch it!
This may not be the best process but has worked for me. When the extreme rise in the wort does begin just before the wort begins to boil, I apply upwards pressure on the kettle handles to decrease pressure on the coil. Once it has settled a bit, I let it back down and then spray the top with the water. I will go through this process several times while adjusting the heat downwards into rolling boil territory. If all else fails, I will remove the kettle entirely but have only had to do this once.
I take the worts temp periodically, then watch it like a hawk once it gets to 205ish. (I’m basically at sea level.) Being prepared and anticipating when to dial back the throttle works really well. Can’t wait for the new Blichmann temp sensors to come out, then I’ll just wait for my phone to alert me that the boil is near.
That being said, what’s bit me has been adding whirflock. Don’t walk away till that entire pill has dissolved, it can REALLY encourage a boilover.
Most homebrewers have the flame up too high and boil too hard as well. Once the temp gets up over 200 degrees I turn the flame down to a whisper. I can bring about 13.5 gallons to a roiling boil in a 14 gallon kettle with nary an inch to spare at the top of the kettle without getting a boil over (usually )
My understanding is that pellets provide nucleation sites that promote a boil over. To avoid this I take some of the wort from the pot and use it to hydrate the hop pellets into a slurry. When I add it back to the pot it doesn’t effect the boil and avoids any boil over.
I’m not sure if that’s a “proper” move but it seems to help me a lot.
I stopped. Using Fermcap-S a few years ago. I just stir for the 2 minute period when there is danger of boil over. I have a 7.5g pot for 3.5g of wort so there is lots of head room.
Fermcap-S seems safe from reading the MSDS but keeping it around and remembering to use it is just one more step I care not to bother with.
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