Jim, Evening. Nice lookin' insulated box.........Perfect for smoking.........
I have a modification to my MES that might work for you........As well insulated, as that box is, I would try a single table top heating element. They usually run about 1000 watts.
Plugged into a 1500 watt dimmer switch, you can keep the heat output adjusted so you don't need a thermostat. Kinda like adjusting the flame on a gas burner. No on-off from the thermostat, no temp fluctuations. The AMAZNPS would be my choice for generating smoke. Cold smoke, hot smoke you name it, they are great.
Now that I know what I do from my mods, my MES is an incredible smoking machine and I am learning more every day......Dave
Any questions.????... PM me........Dave again....