First off, congrats on the new #2! Sounds like a good combo of wood and rub (I use Jeff's rub occasionally). Jeff's prep recommendations are good, but his smoker prep recommendations not so good for the SI smokers. Did you start with a cold smoker? He usually recommends starting with a pre-heated smoker, which is not good with these.
I also see you mentioned you let the meat warm for awhile before smoking. That produces mixed results, and will effect smoke penetration. Steve is spot-on with the rest in the fridge - really produces great results. I prep ribs the night before, wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge overnight. The salt in the rubs acts as a dry brine, which helps retain moisture in the meat, and the spices have a chance to penetrate.
Come smoking time, put your wood in the smoker with it cold, place an aluminum mini-loaf pan on the bottom, next to the smoke box (not on a shelf), then load your cold ribs right out of the fridge. Cold meat, cold smoker = best results. Warm meat, warm smoker = not so good results.
Spend a little time going through some of our successes on here, and you'll see how our techniques differ from traditional smokers. Jeff's recipes are great, but you need to adapt them for use with an SI smoker.
