NB Kit Partial Boil Question

So, my BBP recipe says to start with 2.5 gallons of water, and at the end to top off with 2 gallons. I understand that the extract will add some volume, but that the boil will evaporate off some as well. If I’m shooting for a five gallon final volume, I’ll need more water…but I obviously realize that the hops are based on a specific wort gravity. So, what do you guys think. When I did my last brew (Witbier) I boiled with 3.5 gallons to end around 3…gravity was about right and it tasted great coming out of the secondary.

What do you guys think?

TUNA

There are many ways to skin this cat. What you did worked. Stick with it.

One thing you may want to change, only boil 1/2 of your LME/DME. This will reduce carmalization of the sugar heavy wort. At the end of the boil add the rest to pasteurize it. Then cool the wort.

Did the original instructions not say to top off to 5+ gallons? Looks like you would have ended up with 3.5 to 4 gallons of beer in you factor in evaporation?