Surely turning down the heat is the most obvious solution? I had to install full manual control of my heater elements in the hottop because the programmed profile was crap, but if the only issue is with reducing heat as it nears first crack, that is easily accomplished with a pwm control circuit between the existing heat element output wires and the elements themselves. Normally it would be at 100% power, then reduce to a lower value just before first crack, then potentially back to 100% once first crack finished. Benefit if wiring like this is all existing safety features remain in place