Mix a brine at exactly the strength you want. Enter the water and the salt percentage, or tap a preset for turkey, pork, pickles or fermented vegetables, and get the salt in grams and in spoons for the salt you actually have, plus optional sugar.
Last updated:
%
Use a preset above, or type your own.
Meat or vegetables going into the brine.
Grams are exact; spoon measures depend on the crystal size.
Enter your values to see the result.
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How to use the Brine Calculator
Enter the water and choose its unit.
Pick a preset or type the salt %. Most recipes give the % of the water weight.
For equilibrium brining, choose Water + food weight and enter the weight of the meat or vegetables.
Choose your salt so the spoon measures are right, and add sugar if the recipe uses it.
Weigh or measure the salt, dissolve it in the water, and chill the brine before adding meat.
Brine formulas
% of water (most recipes): salt = water weight × % ÷ 100.
% of total brine: salt = water weight × % ÷ (100 − %).
1 mL of water = 1 g. 1 liter = 1,000 g, 1 US quart = 946 g, 1 US gallon = 3,785 g.
Salometer degrees: °SAL = brine % (w/w) ÷ 26.4 × 100, since saturated brine is about 26.4% salt.
Example: 2 quarts of water at 5% → 1,893 g × 0.05 = 94.6 g salt, which is about 11 tbsp of Diamond Crystal kosher salt but only about 5 1/4 tbsp of table salt.
*Equilibrium percentages apply to the water plus the food weight. Keep meat brines in the refrigerator, and discard brine after use with raw meat.
Salt weight per tablespoon
Salt
Approx. grams per tbsp
Grams per tsp
Table salt / pickling salt
18 g
6 g
Fine sea salt
17 g
5.7 g
Coarse sea salt
15 g
5 g
Morton kosher salt
14.4 g
4.8 g
Diamond Crystal kosher salt
8.4 g
2.8 g
Flaky sea salt
about 8 g
about 2.7 g
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate a brine percentage?
Multiply the water weight by the percentage. 1 liter of water weighs 1,000 g, so a 5% brine needs 1,000 × 0.05 = 50 g of salt. A US gallon of water weighs about 3,785 g, so 5% is about 189 g of salt.
Why does the salt type matter?
Salts have very different crystal sizes. A tablespoon of table salt weighs about 18 g, Morton kosher about 14 g and Diamond Crystal kosher only about 8 to 9 g. Measured by spoon, the same recipe can be twice as salty with table salt. Weighing in grams avoids the problem.
What percentage brine is best for turkey or chicken?
A common wet brine is about 5% to 6% salt by water weight for several hours to overnight, depending on size. Lower strengths around 3% can be used for longer brines. Always keep brining meat refrigerated below 40°F (4°C).
What brine strength is used for fermenting vegetables?
Lacto-fermented vegetables usually use 2% to 3% brine, cucumber pickles about 3.5% to 5%, and olives 8% to 10%. Too little salt lets spoilage organisms grow; too much slows the lactic acid bacteria.
What is an equilibrium brine?
In equilibrium brining the salt is calculated from the weight of the water plus the food, so after enough time the food ends up at exactly that salt percentage and can never be over-salted. 1.5% to 2% is common for meat and 2% to 2.5% for vegetables.
What is the difference between % of water and % of total brine?
Most recipes use salt as a percentage of the water (50 g salt in 1,000 g water = 5%). Some fermenters use percent of the whole solution, which needs a little more salt: 52.6 g in 1,000 g water gives 5% of 1,052.6 g.
Should I add sugar to a brine?
Sugar is optional. It balances the saltiness and helps browning on poultry and pork. Half as much sugar as salt is a common ratio. Fermentation brines usually skip sugar.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
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