Brine Shrimp: Salt Ratio and Time

Brine 1 lb (0.45 kg) of large shrimp in 2 quarts (1.89 L) of water with 36 g (1.27 oz) of salt, a 1.9% brine, for 30 to 45 minutes in the refrigerator. A stronger 2.85% brine does the job in 20 to 25 minutes.

Shrimp brines take minutes, not hours. The time limits are short, and the sections below explain what the sources do and do not say about them.

Brine strength

The calculator has two strengths for shrimp. Each is a percentage of the water's weight, so 1.9% means 1.9 g of salt per 100 g of water. The water is a lot: the default is 2 quarts per pound of shrimp.

• Standard, 1.9% is the default, for 30 to 45 minutes. It comes from the America's Test Kitchen brined shrimp recipe: 1/2 cup of kosher salt (or 1/4 cup of table salt) in 2 cups of boiling water plus 3 1/2 quarts of cold water, for 2 lb of large shrimp, about 45 minutes. Converted at 6 g per teaspoon, 1/4 cup of table salt is 72 g in about 3,785 g of water, which is 1.9%.
• Quick, 2.85% is 50 percent more salt than standard, for 20 to 25 minutes. The same ATK recipe describes a quicker version with a brine 50 percent greater in strength for 20 to 25 minutes, and 1.9% times 1.5 is 2.85%.

Recipes differ. Williams Sonoma gives 1/4 cup of kosher salt for every 4 cups of liquid and says whole shrimp need only 30 to 45 minutes. It names no brand of kosher salt. Read as Diamond Crystal at 2.8 g per teaspoon, that works out to about 3.6%, which is nearly double the ATK figure. The calculator uses the lower value for the standard strength, and Williams Sonoma's higher figure sits closer to the quick brine.

The size the times apply to is large shrimp, 21 to 25 per pound. The sources do not give separate times for smaller or larger shrimp, so the calculator does not either.

Salt type changes how much you measure. Kosher salt and table salt of the same volume weigh different amounts, which is why a recipe that says "1/4 cup salt" can land on a very different percentage. The kosher salt versus table salt guide explains why, and the brine percentages explained guide shows how to convert a percentage into grams.

Salt and time by weight

Weigh the shrimp before brining, without the brine. The table is for the standard strength.

The quick strength uses more salt for a shorter time.

The default is a lot of water because the sources use a large volume of brine for the weight of shrimp. Weighing the salt is the reliable way to measure, because the volumes differ by salt type.

How to brine shrimp

1. Weigh the shrimp and the salt. Use the table above, or the calculator for your weight.
2. Dissolve the salt. ATK stirs the salt into 2 cups of boiling water first, then adds 3 1/2 quarts of cold water and stirs until the salt fully dissolves.
3. Chill the brine. Keep it at 40°F (4°C) or below. ATK adds ice to the brine if the room is over 70°F (21°C).
4. Submerge the shrimp completely, cover the container and put it in the refrigerator. Williams Sonoma says to keep food in a brine fully submerged, covered and refrigerated. The refrigerator should read 40°F or below, per USDA FSIS.
5. Set a timer for 30 to 45 minutes at the standard strength, or 20 to 25 minutes at the quick strength.
6. Drain, rinse and chill. ATK drains the shrimp, rinses them thoroughly under cold running water and refrigerates them until cooking.
7. Cook. The shrimp already carry salt, so season lightly. FoodSafety.gov gives no temperature for shrimp and says to cook until the flesh is pearly or white, and opaque.

Why the time is so short, and what the maximum means

The ATK recipe says brining dramatically improves the taste and texture of shrimp, but it does not explain the mechanism. The brine seasons the shrimp, and the sources agree that it takes 45 minutes or less.

That means the 45 minute limit is the longest soak either source lists, not a tested threshold at which something goes wrong. The calculator still states it as a limit and warns against going past it.

Past those times the sources give no guidance, so the calculator does not either. The can you over-brine meat guide gives the maximum brine times for several meats and fish and the saltiness limit behind them.

Not for curing or smoking

This calculator covers brining for texture and moisture before cooking. Smoking brines and long salt cures, which run hours to overnight and often include sugar, are curing steps. They are a different process and the calculator gives no amounts for them. The same applies to curing salt and nitrite.

ATK also has a shrimp cocktail recipe that brines 1 quart of cold water with 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar for 15 minutes before poaching. It adds sugar and is a different recipe, so the calculator does not use it for the strengths above.

Safety

The brine food safety guide covers refrigeration, brine reuse, time limits and what the calculator does not cover. Other seafood has its own times: the seafood brine time chart lists them next to shrimp. Fish fillets also brine in minutes, as covered in the guides to brining salmon and brining white fish.

Practical problems

The shrimp taste too salty. Check the soak time against the 45 minute limit, and check the salt type. A recipe that lists "1/4 cup salt" without naming the type can make a much stronger brine if the salt was table salt than if it was Diamond Crystal. Weigh the salt.

The shrimp are not covered. Use more water and enter the new amount in the calculator so the salt matches it.

The brine is warm. Add ice, as ATK does when the room is over 70°F (21°C), and make sure the brine is cold before the shrimp go in.

The shrimp need to wait after the rinse. ATK refrigerates them until cooking, so keep them in the refrigerator.