AbstractBACKGROUNDThe present study aimed to evaluate the effects of hot smoking and liquid smoke on process yield, physicochemical properties, microbiological parameters, fatty acid profile, benzo(a)pyrene levels, and sensory profile of Pantanal yacare tail fillets. The fillets were subjected to two types of smoking processes: hot smoking and liquid smoke flavoring.RESULTSThe process yield of liquid‐smoked fillets was higher (69.8%) compared to hot‐smoked fillets (58.0%). All fillets were with good microbiological quality and low benzo(a)pyrene levels and were well accepted by consumers. The hot‐smoked fillets and the liquid‐smoked fillets presented 456.2 and 589.7 g kg−1 moisture, 262.3 and 263.7 g kg−1 crude protein, 218 and 85 g kg−1 total lipids, and 26.0 and 20.9 g kg−1 ash, respectively. The major fatty acids identified in the smoked tail fillets were palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids.CONCLUSIONThe liquid‐smoked fillets had lower lipid content, and higher process yield because of lower losses; thus, they proved to be more advantageous and practical to obtain than the hot‐smoked fillets. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.