Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
When you say individual portions, please clarify. I suggest filet pieces that are 2"-4" wide. I would never smoke a whole side unless I am planning to entertain a big crowd of friends. I'll see if I can find a pick of the size I normally smoke.
I'd choose apple over pecan. I normally start out with Alder using it for say 25% of the smoking time and then switch over to apple.