Brine Pork Chops: Salt Ratio and Time

Brine pork chops in a 5.71% salt brine, which is 54 g (1.91 oz) of salt in 1 quart (0.95 L) of water for 2 lb (0.91 kg) of chops about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Leave them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour, and do not go past 1 hour.

The tables below give the amount of salt for 1 to 4 lb of chops at each of the three strengths.

Brine strength

The calculator offers three strengths for pork chops. Each is a percentage of the water's weight, so 5.71% means 5.71 g of salt for every 100 g of water. The brine percentages explained guide covers the percentage ranges the calculator uses for wet brines, dry brines and ferments.

How to choose between them:

• Lighter, 3.8% comes from one publisher. America's Test Kitchen's chart brines four bone-in rib loin chops, 12 oz each and 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) thick, for 1 hour. Its time is a single fixed hour, not a window, and it applies to chops 1 1/2 inches thick. The Standard times are for chops about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, and the sources for the Stronger strength give no thickness.
• Standard, 5.71% is the default. It matches what The Kitchn gives for fine table salt, and it falls between the sources on time: The Kitchn says 30 minutes to 1 hour, Cook the Story says 1 to 2 hours, and Amazing Ribs says about 1 hour for meat 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick without tying that time to a salt percentage. The calculator uses the shorter maximum of 1 hour.
• Stronger, short, 7.61% is the "super-concentrated" brine that America's Test Kitchen's 30-minute brine uses for center-cut chops: 1/4 cup of table salt in 1 quart of water for 30 minutes. A second source, Napoleon Grills, gives about one hour at this strength, so the window is 30 minutes to 1 hour. Take the shorter end if you are unsure.

Recipes differ because salt types differ. The same spoonful of table salt, Morton kosher and Diamond Crystal weighs different amounts, so a recipe that says "3 tablespoons" without naming the salt can land on a very different percentage. The kosher salt versus table salt guide explains the crystal differences, and weighing the salt avoids the problem.

Salt and time by weight

Weigh the chops before they go in the brine. The table is for the standard strength and uses the calculator's default of 0.5 quart of water per pound of chops.

The volume columns are for cooks without a scale, but the same volume of each salt weighs a different amount. The brine ratio chart lists the common ratios side by side.

Time depends on thickness more than weight. Amazing Ribs' brine recipe page lists about 1 hour for meat 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick and about 4 hours for meat 2 inches (5 cm) thick, and elsewhere on the same page says 1 to 2 hours for meat 2 inches or less. These are general-meat figures from one site, and they do not override the calculator's 1 hour maximum for chops.

How to brine pork chops

1. Check the label. If the package says enhanced, injected, basted or marinated, do not brine it. The salt is already in the meat.
2. Mix the brine. Weigh the salt and stir it into the water until it dissolves completely.
3. Chill the brine. Keep the brine at 40°F (4°C) or below. Add ice if you need to. Amazing Ribs notes that visible unmelted ice means the brine is probably below 40°F (4°C).
4. Submerge the chops in a food-safe container or a brining bag, fully covered, and put the container in the refrigerator. USDA FSIS says to always marinate meat and poultry in the refrigerator, not on the counter, and that the refrigerator should be at 40°F or below.
5. Set a timer for 30 minutes to 1 hour at the standard strength.
6. Rinse and dry. Amazing Ribs says to rinse the meat with cold water to wash excess salt off the surface, then pat it thoroughly dry with paper towels.
7. Cook. The chops already carry salt from the brine, so go easy on added salt.

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for pork chops is 145°F (63°C), followed by a 3-minute rest, according to FoodSafety.gov. Brining does not change that number.

What happens if you brine too long

Salt changes the structure of the muscle proteins, which lets the meat hold more moisture when it is heated. America's Test Kitchen's 30-minute brine page gives this as the reason a short, strong brine works, and says center-cut chops cooked without brining are very dry and chewy. The effect has limits. The Kitchn's 5 Smart Tips for Better Brined Meat 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.

Saltiness is the second limit. Amazing Ribs says that salt levels of 1.5% to 2% inside the meat are much too salty to eat, and that its target level is only 0.5%. The calculator's maximum is 1 hour at all three strengths.

For a longer rest, dry brining pork chops salts the surface without water and has its own time window. The wet versus dry brine guide compares the two methods. The pork brine time chart puts chops next to the other pork cuts, and the can you over-brine meat guide gives the maximum brine times for several foods and the saltiness limit behind them.

Safety

The food safety guide for brining covers refrigeration, brine reuse, time limits and what the calculator does not cover.

Practical problems

The chops taste too salty. Either the time ran long, the brine was stronger than intended, or the chops were enhanced. Check the salt type first: a recipe written for table salt used with the same volume of Diamond Crystal gives a much weaker brine, and the reverse gives a much stronger one.

The chops are mushy or spongy. That points to too much time. Cut the time, and stay inside 1 hour.

The chops are thicker than 1 inch (2.5 cm). The Lighter strength comes from a chart for chops 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) thick and gives 1 hour. The time limit is still 1 hour at every strength.

The surface is wet after the rinse. Pat the chops thoroughly dry with paper towels, as Amazing Ribs advises, before they go in the pan or on the grill.