Brine calculator

Pick the food and its weight. The calculator gives the salt by weight and by volume for the salt in your kitchen, the water, and how long to brine or ferment.

Food

Wet brine Meat or seafood soaked in salt water.

Weight of the meat or seafood

lbkg

Weigh the meat before brining, without the brine.

Brine strength

Lighter3.8%Standard5.71%

About 5.71 g of table salt per 100 g of water, the same strength The Kitchn and Cook the Story give for table salt.

Salt type

Diamond Crystal kosherMorton kosherTable salt

The result lists all three. The one you pick is shown first.

Water (quarts)

Leave blank to use the default amount for this weight.

Chicken breast, 2 lb (0.91 kg), Standard

Salt54 g1.9 oz

Water1 quart0.95 L, 4 cups

Time30 min to 1 hr

Salt is 5.71% of the water's weight. Water: the default amount for this weight.

Salt by volume

Diamond Crystal kosher your salt: 3/8 cup
Morton kosher: 1/4 cup
Table salt: 3 Tbsp

The same volume of different salts weighs different amounts. Use the weight when you can.

0one mark = 15 min1 hr 15 min

Time window: 30 min to 1 hr
Time applies to: Boneless breasts about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick

Warnings

Do not brine meat that is labeled basted, enhanced, marinated or kosher (Morton Salt, It's Time To Brine). Destination BBQ (Brining math explained) says enhanced, self-basting and kosher meat has already been salt-treated and is essentially pre-brined, and that you might dry-brine it very lightly or not brine it at all.

Brine in the refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below. Do not brine at room temperature.

Discard the brine after use. Do not reuse brine that held raw meat, poultry or fish.

Do not brine longer than 1 hr. The Kitchn's 5 Smart Tips for Better Brined Meat page (https://www.thekitchn.com/5-smart-tips-for-better-brined-meat-223759) says that for pork chops, chicken and other small cuts, the meat can start to become mushy after a couple of hours in a brine. Amazing Ribs reports a test by Greg Blonder in which a half-pound boneless chicken breast held about 1.5% salt inside after 8 hours in a 6% brine, and calls an internal level of 1.5% to 2% much too salty to eat. That test shows meat becomes too salty over hours; it does not set the maximum shown here.

Notes

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults limit sodium to less than 2,300 mg per day. Brined and fermented food contains added salt.

The water shown is a default of 0.5 quarts per pound of food. Use enough water to cover the food completely. The salt follows the water: if you use a different amount of water, enter it and the salt changes with it.

Notes for chicken breast

Amazing Ribs gives its brine times by thickness, not by weight, on its Simple Blonder Brine recipe page (https://amazingribs.com/wprm_print/the-simple-blonder-brine-6-4-recipe): about 30 minutes for meat 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick, about 1 hour for 1 inch (2.5 cm), about 4 hours for 2 inches (5 cm) and about 12 hours for 3 inches (7.5 cm). The same page also gives 1 to 2 hours for meat 2 inches (5 cm) thick or less, so its 2 inch figures conflict, and it states no brine strength for any of these times.
When you take the meat out of the brine, pat it dry. Amazing Ribs' Simple Blonder Brine recipe page (https://amazingribs.com/wprm_print/the-simple-blonder-brine-6-4-recipe) says to rinse the meat in cold water and then pat it dry, or the surface might steam and not brown properly.
USDA FSIS says the refrigerator should be at 40°F (4°C) or below (https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/steps-keep-food-safe). Amazing Ribs says to keep the brine below 40°F (4°C) while the meat is in it, adding ice as needed, and notes that visible unmelted ice means the brine is probably below 40°F (4°C).

Read the full chicken breast guide

This brine calculator covers 44 foods in three kinds of calculation: wet brines for meat and seafood, dry brines for meat, and salt ferments for vegetables. Every salt amount, water amount and time comes from the same engine that fills the tables in the guides and the printable charts.

How to use the brine calculator

Choose the food. The list is grouped by poultry, pork, beef, lamb, seafood and vegetables. The method for the food is shown under the list.
Enter the weight. Weigh the food before it goes in the brine, in pounds or kilograms. A line under the field says what to weigh and the range the calculator covers.
Choose the strength. Wet brines, dry brines and ferments each have their own options. Ferments that can be made two ways have a style choice, brine or dry-salted.
Choose your salt type. Diamond Crystal kosher, Morton kosher or table salt. The result lists all three volumes and shows yours first.
Set the water if you want. Wet brines and brine-style ferments have a water field. Leave it blank for the default amount, or enter the container size you have.

The result updates as you change each control. The address in your browser changes with it, so you can copy the link to this result, or print the page.

The three kinds of calculation

Wet brine. Meat and seafood sit in salt water in the refrigerator. The calculator covers 14 wet brine foods. The result gives the water, the salt by weight and volume, and a time window with a minimum and a maximum.

Dry brine. Salt goes directly on the meat with no water. The calculator covers 12 dry brine foods. The result gives the salt by weight and volume and a time window.

Vegetable ferment. Vegetables ferment in salt, either covered in brine or salted dry so they make their own liquid. The calculator covers 18 vegetables. The result gives the salt, the water for brine styles, and the fermentation time at each room temperature the sources list.

What each part of the result means

Salt. Shown in grams and ounces first, because weight is the reliable way to measure salt. Under it, the volume for each salt type.

Water. The amount of water for the brine, in quarts and liters. The result says whether it is the default amount or the amount you entered.

Time. The window the sources give. A ruler under the numbers shows the whole window, and the best part of it where the sources name one.

Warnings and notes. Amber panels are warnings from the sources for that food. Neutral panels are notes. A result that goes past a limit in the sources is marked not recommended, and the first message says why.

Salt per quart of water by brine percentage

A brine strength is a percentage of the water's weight. This table shows the strengths the calculator uses and the salt each one needs for one quart of water.

Salt for one quart of waterEach row is a brine strength the calculator uses. Volumes name the salt type in the column header.
Salt percentage	Grams per liter	Grams per quart	Diamond Crystal kosher	Morton kosher	Table salt	Used for
1.9%	18.9 g	18 g (0.63 oz)	2 Tbsp	1 Tbsp	1 Tbsp	Seafood
2.85%	28.4 g	27 g (0.95 oz)	3 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	1 1/2 Tbsp	Seafood
3%	29.9 g	28.4 g (1 oz)	3 1/2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	1 1/2 Tbsp	Vegetables
3.5%	34.8 g	33.1 g (1.2 oz)	1/4 cup	2 1/2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	Vegetables
3.8%	37.9 g	36 g (1.3 oz)	1/4 cup	2 1/2 Tbsp	2 Tbsp	Poultry, Pork
4.65%	46.3 g	44 g (1.6 oz)	3/8 cup	3 Tbsp	2 1/2 Tbsp	Seafood
4.75%	47.4 g	45 g (1.6 oz)	3/8 cup	3 Tbsp	2 1/2 Tbsp	Seafood
5%	49.8 g	47.3 g (1.7 oz)	3/8 cup	3 1/2 Tbsp	2 1/2 Tbsp	Vegetables
5.71%	56.8 g	54 g (1.9 oz)	3/8 cup	1/4 cup	3 Tbsp	Poultry, Pork
6%	59.8 g	56.8 g (2 oz)	3/8 cup	1/4 cup	3 Tbsp	Poultry
6.09%	60.6 g	57.6 g (2 oz)	3/8 cup	1/4 cup	3 Tbsp	Poultry
7.6%	75.7 g	71.9 g (2.5 oz)	1/2 cup	1/4 cup	1/4 cup	Seafood, Vegetables
7.61%	75.8 g	72 g (2.5 oz)	1/2 cup	3/8 cup	1/4 cup	Poultry, Pork

Weigh the salt when you can. The same volume of different salts weighs different amounts.

The salt type changes the volume but not the weight. A guide on kosher salt versus table salt for brine explains why the three salts measure differently, and how to make brine walks through mixing one.

What the calculator does not cover

The calculator does not cover curing with nitrite or curing salt, which is how ham, bacon, corned beef and pastrami are made. It does not cover canning, and it does not cover pickling in vinegar. It also does not cover cheese brines or olive brines. These are different processes with different safety rules, and the calculator gives no amounts for them.

A ferment from this calculator is not canned food. Do not can the result without a tested canning procedure from a source for that purpose.

Where to read more

The guides explain each food, with tables made from the same engine. If you are new to the idea, start with what brining is, then read wet versus dry brine. The food safety guide for brining covers the warnings in more detail. The printable charts put the salt ratios, times and fermentation percentages on one page each.

Brine guides

Charts and how-to

Frequently asked questions

How does the brine calculator work out the salt?

Each food has one or more salt levels from its sources. Most are a percentage of the water's weight, and dry brines and dry-salted ferments use a percentage of the food's weight. The calculator turns that percentage into grams and ounces for your weight, then into a volume for each salt type.

Why does the result show three salt volumes?

Diamond Crystal kosher salt, Morton kosher salt and table salt have different crystal sizes, so the same spoonful weighs a different amount for each. The result lists all three. The salt type you pick is shown first.

What happens if I leave the water amount blank?

The calculator uses a default amount of water for the weight of food. Enter your own amount of water and the salt is worked out for that amount, so the brine keeps the same strength.

Can I use this for curing salt, canning or vinegar pickles?

No. Curing with nitrite, canning and vinegar pickling are different processes, and this calculator gives no amounts for them.

Is it safe to follow the result?

Each result carries the food safety warnings from the sources for that food. Read them before you start. The calculator gives a not recommended result when the weight, strength or time goes past a limit in those sources.

Where do the numbers come from?

From published sources that are cited in the guides and recorded for each food. The about page explains how the calculator chooses between sources that disagree.