Pork Brine Time Chart: Salt, Water and Hours by Cut

Pork chops brine for 30 min to 1 hr, a pork tenderloin for 1 to 2 hr and a pork loin roast for 6 to 8 hr at the default 5.71% strength. A lighter 3.8% brine gives pork chops 1 hr and a pork loin 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr. Amazing Ribs gives its times by thickness, not weight, so the thickness stated under each cut matters.

The tables below give the salt and water by weight for every strength and the time for each. The salt is a percentage of the water's weight, and it follows the water if you change the amount.

Pork chops

Chops about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, except that the Lighter strength's time is for chops 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) thick. The default is the Standard strength.

Lighter brine, 3.8%

Standard brine, 5.71%

Stronger, short brine, 7.61%

Sources differ. At 3.8% only America's Test Kitchen gives a time, 1 hour for chops 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) thick, so it is a single-publisher strength. At 5.71% The Kitchn gives 30 minutes to 1 hour and Cook the Story gives 1 to 2 hours, and Amazing Ribs gives about 1 hour for meat 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. The calculator uses the shorter maximum of 1 hour. The 5.71% times are for chops about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, and the sources for 7.61% give no thickness. At 7.61% America's Test Kitchen gives 30 minutes and Napoleon Grills about one hour, and the window runs from the first to the second.

Amazing Ribs lists about 1 hour for meat 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick and about 4 hours for meat 2 inches (5 cm) thick, so a thick chop is outside this table. The full guide is brine pork chops.

Pork loin

A pork loin roast of 3 to 6 lb (1.36 to 2.72 kg). The default weight is 3 lb (1.36 kg) and the default strength is Standard.

Lighter, shorter brine, 3.8%

Standard brine, 5.71%

The 3.8% strength is single-publisher, and the America's Test Kitchen chart row names a pork roast, not a pork loin. The Splendid Table gives 1 1/2 to 2 hours per inch of thickness for roasts, without a salt amount. At 5.71% only Cook the Story names the loin, with 6 to 8 hours. Amazing Ribs gives about 12 hours for meat 3 inches (7.5 cm) thick, and Destination BBQ's brining calculator recommends a dry or equilibrium brine for big roasts such as pork shoulder and brisket, without naming pork loin. This is a low-confidence strength: one page names the loin at it.

The full guide is brine pork loin, and dry brine pork loin gives the dry method.

Pork tenderloin

Whole pork tenderloins of 0.75 to 3 lb (0.34 to 1.36 kg). The default weight is 1.5 lb (0.68 kg) and the only strength is Standard.

At 5.71% only Cook the Story names pork tenderloin, with 1 to 2 hours. Amazing Ribs gives 1 to 2 hours for meat 2 inches (5 cm) thick or less and also about 4 hours for meat 2 inches thick. The Kitchn's pork tenderloin page says an hour or two and a maximum of 24 hours, with a ratio of 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of water and no salt type, so it is not paired with a strength. The calculator uses the shorter maximum of 2 hours. The full guide is brine pork tenderloin.

Rules for every pork brine

Check the label for the word enhanced before you start, which means the pork was already injected with a brine. 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 with paper towels. USDA FSIS says the refrigerator should be at 40°F (4°C) or below. Keep the brine below 40°F (4°C) while the meat is in it, adding ice as needed. Amazing Ribs says visible unmelted ice means the brine is probably below 40°F (4°C).

How to read the chart

The weight is the food's weight before brining. The time window is for the thickness stated under each cut, and the maximum is the longest time to leave the meat in the brine. If your cut is thicker, it is outside the table. The salt amounts are for the default water, 0.5 quart per pound, and the brine ratio chart and the salt per gallon chart give the same strengths per quart and per gallon.

How to choose between strengths

For chops, the three strengths give windows of 1 hr, 30 min to 1 hr and 30 min to 1 hr, so the choice is about how much salt goes into the water rather than how long it takes. For a loin, the lighter brine is a 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr brine and the standard brine is a window of 6 to 8 hr, so the choice is mostly about the time you have.

A brine is one method, and pork chops and loin also have dry methods. The dry brine pork chops guide gives the salt per pound, and wet versus dry brine compares the two. The calculator also has dry brine amounts for pork shoulder and pork ribs, which come from recipes that mix the salt into a rub or paste rather than using salt alone. Poultry is in the chicken brine time chart and the turkey brine time chart.

If you go over the time

The guide to over-brining explains what happens when meat stays in brine too long, and brine food safety covers temperature and reuse. The calculator returns the salt for your own weight, water and salt type.

Pork brined for texture is a different process from curing. Curing salt and nitrite for ham or bacon, long smoking cures and canning are not covered here, and the calculator gives no amounts for them.