Safe to use bigger heater element?
If the old element is already bad, I would recess it twice so much to see, if I would hit comething other, than just ceramic cover. If in the double depth is not anything else than ceramic, I would feel confident to recess the new one the single lenght. (But the less it is recessed, the better)

(douyble the recess, so I would be sure, that I did not stopped "just a hair" from heating wire, and that the new one have probably enought of isolation left after shorting it)