Brine Chicken Breast: Salt Ratio and Time
Published
For 2 lb (0.91 kg) of chicken breast, dissolve 54 g (1.91 oz) of salt in 1 quart (0.95 L) of water, which is a 5.71% brine, and refrigerate the chicken in it for 30 minutes to 1 hour. That is the calculator's default for boneless breasts about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick.
A lighter 3.8% brine uses 36 g (1.27 oz) of salt for the same quart and has the same 30 minute to 1 hour window. Chicken breast is a short brine. Do not leave it in longer than 1 hour.
Quick answer
For chicken breast, use a 5.71% brine: 54 g (1.9 oz) of salt per quart of water. Brine 2 lb (0.91 kg) for 30 min to 1 hr.
- Diamond Crystal kosher, per quart of water
- 3/8 cup
- Morton kosher, per quart of water
- 1/4 cup
- Table salt, per quart of water
- 3 Tbsp
- For 2 lb (0.91 kg)
- 54 g (1.9 oz) of salt in 1 quart (0.95 L) of water
- Time window
- 30 min to 1 hr
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.
Chicken breast calculator
Enter your own weight, brine strength and water amount, choose your salt type, and get the salt by weight and volume and the time.
Open the chicken breast calculatorBrine strength
The calculator has two strengths for chicken breast. Both percentages are of the weight of the water, not the meat. The brine percentages explainer covers how that basis changes the arithmetic.
| Strength | Salt percentage | Salt per quart of water | Salt per gallon of water | Time for 2 lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter About 3.8 g of table salt per 100 g of water, from America's Test Kitchen. see warning | 3.8% of water | 36 g (1.3 oz) 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal kosher 2 1/2 Tbsp Morton kosher 2 Tbsp Table salt | 144 g (5.1 oz) 1 1/8 cups Diamond Crystal kosher 5/8 cup Morton kosher 1/2 cup Table salt | 30 min to 1 hr |
| Standard 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. see warning | 5.71% of water | 54 g (1.9 oz) 3/8 cup Diamond Crystal kosher 1/4 cup Morton kosher 3 Tbsp Table salt | 216 g (7.6 oz) 1 5/8 cups Diamond Crystal kosher 1 cup Morton kosher 3/4 cup Table salt | 30 min to 1 hr |
Weigh the salt when you can. The same volume of different salts weighs different amounts.
Warning
Do not brine longer than 1 hr. America's Test Kitchen gives 1 hour as the longest time at this strength. 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. Applies to: Lighter.
Standard (5.71%) is the default. The Kitchn's quick-brine page gives 3 tablespoons of fine table salt per quart of water for chicken breasts, and this is the same strength. Cook the Story uses the same ratio.
Lighter (3.8%) comes from America's Test Kitchen, which brines four boneless, skinless breasts in 2 quarts of water with 1/4 cup of table salt. Only America's Test Kitchen was found at this strength for chicken breasts, so treat it as one publisher's ratio.
Both strengths share the same time window, so the choice is about how salty you want the result.
Recipes differ on strength and on time. Amazing Ribs defines a 6% brine as 60 g of salt per liter of water and gives 1 to 2 hours for meat 2 inches (5 cm) thick or less. Cook the Story gives 1 to 2 hours at the standard strength. The Kitchn gives 30 minutes to 1 hour. The calculator uses the shorter maximum of 1 hour.
Salt and time by weight
Weigh the chicken before it goes into the brine, without any liquid. The table uses the default of 0.5 quart of water per pound, with the standard strength selected.
| Food weight | Salt by weight | Diamond Crystal kosher | Morton kosher | Table salt | Water | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 lb (0.45 kg) | 27 g (0.95 oz) | 3 Tbsp | 2 Tbsp | 1 1/2 Tbsp | 0.5 quarts (0.47 L) | 30 min to 1 hr |
| 2 lb (0.91 kg) | 54 g (1.9 oz) | 3/8 cup | 1/4 cup | 3 Tbsp | 1 quart (0.95 L) | 30 min to 1 hr |
| 3 lb (1.36 kg) | 81.1 g (2.9 oz) | 5/8 cup | 3/8 cup | 1/4 cup | 1.5 quarts (1.42 L) | 30 min to 1 hr |
| 4 lb (1.81 kg) | 108 g (3.8 oz) | 3/4 cup | 1/2 cup | 3/8 cup | 2 quarts (1.89 L) | 30 min to 1 hr |
Weigh the salt when you can. The same volume of different salts weighs different amounts.
The same volume of different salts weighs different amounts. For 2 lb (0.91 kg) of chicken at the standard strength, the 54 g of salt is 3/8 cup of Diamond Crystal kosher, 1/4 cup of Morton kosher or 3 Tbsp of table salt. Weighing on a kitchen scale is the reliable way to measure. The kosher salt versus table salt explainer shows why the volumes differ.
Note
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 in the calculator and the salt changes with it.
For the lighter strength, select it in the calculator or in the strength table above. At 2 lb (0.91 kg) it needs 36 g (1.27 oz) of salt in 1 quart of water, which is 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal, 2 1/2 Tbsp Morton kosher or 2 Tbsp table salt.
Time depends on thickness
The times apply to boneless breasts about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Amazing Ribs lists about 30 minutes for meat 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) thick and about 1 hour for meat 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. A thin cutlet needs the short end of the window, and a thick breast needs the long end.
If a breast is much thicker than 1 inch (2.5 cm), the maximum still stays at 1 hour.
Handling boneless breasts
Keep the breasts fully submerged in a refrigerated, food-safe container and take them out by the time in the table, no later than 1 hour. Pat them thoroughly dry, since Amazing Ribs says a wet surface steams and does not brown. Cook to 165°F (74°C) on a food thermometer, as FoodSafety.gov lists for poultry. The mixing, chilling and cleanup steps are the same for every wet brine and are in how to brine meat.
How salt works in chicken breast
Amazing Ribs says salt ions hold moisture in the meat, and that at high concentrations salt causes meat proteins to break apart so their loose ends can bond with water. In its chicken test, a wet-brined breast increased its raw weight by 10%, and some of that added water, 7% by the page's figure, was still in the cooked meat.
Safety
Warning
Do not brine longer than 1 hr. The Kitchn's 5 Smart Tips for Better Brined Meat page 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. At the lighter strength, America's Test Kitchen also gives 1 hour as the longest time. The guide to over-brining has the salt-uptake test and what to do about meat that stayed in too long.
The refrigeration, brine disposal and pre-salted meat rules in the calculator above apply to every wet brine and are explained in the brine food safety guide. In short: brine at 40°F (4°C) or below, throw the brine out after use, and do not brine poultry sold as basted, enhanced, marinated or kosher. The USDA FSIS says those labels mean a solution was added during processing.
Practical problems
The chicken tastes too salty. The brine was too strong, the time was too long or the breast was thin. Use the lighter strength next time and stay at the short end of the window for thin pieces.
The chicken is not seasoned enough. Check that the salt was weighed and not measured by volume, since the same volume of different salts weighs different amounts. Check also that the breast was fully submerged.
The skin is soggy. The times above are for boneless breasts. For skin-on breasts, Amazing Ribs says wet brines make poultry skin soggy and suggests a dry brine for skin-on poultry. The dry brine chicken guide gives that method.
Related guides
Other cuts have their own windows. The guide to chicken thighs gives 1 to 2 hours at its standard strength, the guide to chicken wings gives 30 minutes to 1 hour, and the guide to a whole chicken gives 4 to 6 hours. The chicken brine time chart puts every cut in one table.
Frequently asked questions
How long should you brine chicken breast?
The calculator gives 30 minutes to 1 hour at both strengths. Time depends on thickness more than weight, and the maximum is 1 hour.
How much salt do you put in a brine for chicken breast?
At the default 5.71% strength, 2 lb (0.91 kg) of chicken breast uses 1 quart (0.95 L) of water and 54 g (1.91 oz) of salt. That is 3/8 cup Diamond Crystal, 1/4 cup Morton kosher or 3 Tbsp table salt, so weigh the salt if you can.
Can you brine chicken breast overnight?
No. The calculator's maximum is 1 hour at both strengths, and The Kitchn's 5 Smart Tips page says that for pork chops, chicken and other small cuts the meat can start to become mushy after a couple of hours. 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 1 hour maximum.
Do you rinse chicken breast after brining?
Amazing Ribs says to rinse the meat with cold water to wash excess salt off the surface and then pat it thoroughly dry, because a wet surface steams instead of browning. The Kitchn says to pat it dry and to account for the extra salt from the brine when you season the final dish.
Can you brine chicken that is labeled enhanced or kosher?
No. Morton Salt advises against brining meat labeled basted, enhanced, marinated or kosher, because it already contains salt.