Two gallons of cold water in a food-grade bucket. A cup of salt stirred in until the bottom is clear. A 14 lb turkey going in breast down, lid on, into the fridge until tomorrow morning. That is the whole method of how to brine a turkey, and it works, as long as the cup holds the salt the recipe meant.
That last part is where most turkey brines go wrong. The America's Test Kitchen chart behind those numbers was written for table salt, and a cup of kosher salt carries far less salt than a cup of table salt. Same cup, same water, a different brine. This article goes through the ratio for every size of bird, the kosher salt problem in grams, how long the turkey can stay in, and the food safety rules USDA attaches to the whole job. The Brine Calculator does the arithmetic for any amount of water and any of the three common salts.
Turkey brine ratio for three sizes of bird
The ATK brining chart has three turkey rows. All three land on the same strength, which is the useful thing to notice: a brine of about 3.8% salt by weight of water, with the bucket size scaled to the bird.
| Turkey | Cold water | Table salt | Time | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole, 12 to 17 lb | 2 gallons | 1 cup (288 g) | 6 to 12 hours | 3.8% |
| Whole, 18 to 24 lb | 3 gallons | 1 1/2 cups (432 g) | 6 to 12 hours | 3.8% |
| Bone-in breast, 6 to 8 lb | 1 gallon | 1/2 cup (144 g) | 3 to 6 hours | 3.8% |
The grams come from the ATK weight for table salt, about 6 g per teaspoon, which puts a level cup at 288 g. The strength column is not printed in the chart; it is the salt weight divided by the water weight, 288 g into the 7,571 g of two gallons. Half a cup per gallon, in plain kitchen terms.
The kosher salt swap that weakens the brine
Here is the mistake. A recipe online says "1 cup salt", the box in the pantry is kosher, and it goes in cup for cup. Kosher salt has large flakes with air between them, so a cup holds much less of it by weight. ATK weighed one teaspoon of each: table salt about 6 g, Morton kosher 4.8 g, Diamond Crystal kosher 2.8 g.
Run that through the turkey brine. A cup of Diamond Crystal weighs about 134 g, not 288. In two gallons that is a 1.8% brine instead of 3.8%, less than half the salt the chart asked for. The bird spends the night in the fridge and comes out barely seasoned. The reverse swap is worse: a recipe written for Diamond Crystal, made with table salt spoon for spoon, ends up about twice as salty as intended.
| Brine | Table salt | Morton kosher | Diamond Crystal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey 12 to 17 lb, 2 gal | 1 cup | 1 1/4 cups | 2 cups + 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp |
| Turkey 18 to 24 lb, 3 gal | 1 1/2 cups | 1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp | 3 cups + 3 tbsp + 1 1/4 tsp |
| Breast 6 to 8 lb, 1 gal | 1/2 cup | 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp | 1 cup + 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp |
Every column in that table is the same weight of salt, matched by weight rather than by spoon. ATK's own shortcut is 1 teaspoon of table salt = 1 1/2 of Morton = 2 of Diamond Crystal, which is close enough for a pinch and noticeably off for a cup and a half. A kitchen scale makes the question disappear: weigh 288 g of whatever salt you have.
What the salt does to the turkey meat
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service explains it in one line, citing research published in the Journal of Food Science: the salt dissolves a bit of the protein in the muscle fibers, which lets the meat absorb the brine and keep more moisture while it cooks. The result is juicier, more tender poultry with better flavor.
Sugar, molasses, honey or corn syrup often go in too, FSIS notes, but the salt does the work. So the salt is the one ingredient worth getting exactly right. Spices, citrus and herbs are a matter of taste.
When your bucket is not two gallons
The chart assumes you have exactly 2 or 3 gallons of water around the bird. Real containers do not cooperate: a brining bag in a roasting pan may need only 1.5 gallons to cover the turkey, a big stockpot 2.5. Keep the strength and change the salt.
| Water | Salt at 3.8% | Table salt | Morton kosher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 gallons | 216 g | 3/4 cup | 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp |
| 2.5 gallons | 360 g | 1 1/4 cups | 1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp |
| 4 gallons | 575 g | 2 cups | 2 1/4 cups + 3 tbsp + 2 3/4 tsp |
| 8 liters | 304 g | 1 cup + 2 3/4 tsp | 1 1/4 cups + 1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp |
To get these, pick "A salt percentage" in the brine calculator, enter the water and 3.8. The result also shows the strength measured the other way, as a share of the whole brine: 3.66% for the same mix, which is why two recipes can call one brine by two different numbers.
A note for smoker recipes that ask for an equilibrium brine. That method counts the weight of the turkey as well as the water, so the salt comes out higher for the same percentage, and the bird cannot end up saltier than the number chosen. Enter the turkey weight in the optional field and the calculator switches to it. Use the percentage the recipe gives; the ATK chart above is a different method.
How long to brine a turkey, and where to stop
ATK's times are 6 to 12 hours for a whole turkey of either size and 3 to 6 hours for a bone-in breast. That fits the usual plan: brine in the evening, roast the next day. The FSIS guidance sets the outer limit for any recipe: never longer than 2 days, and the turkey and brine refrigerated at 40°F or below the entire time.
Why does a short soak in a stronger brine work? Because strength and time trade off. The chicken rows of the same chart use 7.6% for half an hour to an hour; the turkey rows use half that strength for many hours. Doubling the time on a recipe is not a neutral move, it pushes more salt into the meat.
Fridge space, coolers and the 40-degree line
FSIS spells out the container: food-grade plastic, stainless steel or glass, or a brining bag, big enough to hold the bird breast down and covered by the brine, with a lid so nothing splashes onto other food. And it has to fit in the fridge. That is the honest problem in November, when the fridge is full of everything else.
People search for brining a turkey in a cooler for exactly this reason. The FSIS article we read speaks of the refrigerator and of one number, 40°F or less for the turkey and the brine. Whatever holds the bucket has to keep that line all night, and the only way to know is a thermometer in the brine, checked rather than assumed.
Two more points from the same FSIS article that people get wrong. Do not wash the bird before brining: washing raw poultry spreads its juices around the sink and the counter. And if a recipe heats the brine to dissolve the salt or sugar, it has to cool to room temperature before the turkey goes in.
FSIS says fresh turkeys should be refrigerated and used within 1 to 2 days from purchase. Plan the brine inside that window, not on top of it.
Labels that say the bird is already salted
Can you brine a Butterball turkey? It is one of the most searched versions of the question, and the answer is on the label rather than in the brand. In the FSIS guide Turkey from Farm to Table, bone-in turkey injected or marinated with a solution is labeled basted or self-basted, and the label has to identify the total quantity of the solution and every ingredient in it, along the lines of "injected with approximately 3% of a solution of" followed by the list.
If salt is on that list, the turkey has already been partly brined at the plant. A wet brine at full strength adds salt on top of salt. None of the sources used here gives an adjusted amount for a pre-salted bird, so the calculator does not invent one; the choice is yours, made knowing what is already in the meat.
Five rules for the brine bucket
- Match the salt by weight, not by spoon. The turkey chart means 288 g of salt for two gallons. Diamond Crystal needs a little over two cups to get there.
- Keep the strength, scale the salt. 3.8% by weight of water covers every turkey row in the chart; change the salt with the water, never the other way round.
- Stay at 40°F or below. Turkey and brine refrigerated the whole time, in a covered food-grade container, breast down.
- Respect the clock. 6 to 12 hours for a whole bird, 3 to 6 for a breast in this chart, and never past 2 days for any recipe.
- Read the label first. Basted or self-basted with salt in the solution means the bird arrived partly brined.
After the brine, the thermometer decides
Brining changes how the turkey tastes, not when it is safe. FSIS asks for 165°F measured with a food thermometer in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast, then 20 minutes of rest before carving so the juices set. The Meat Temperature Calculator keeps that number next to every other meat on the holiday table.
Cooked turkey, stuffing and gravy should not sit out longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F, and refrigerated leftovers are good for 3 to 4 days.
The calculators behind these numbers
- Brine Calculator - salt for a brine from a percentage or the equilibrium method, the ATK chart for turkey, chicken and pork, or dill pickles, in table salt, Morton or Diamond Crystal kosher.
- Egg Substitute Calculator - flax, aquafaba, applesauce or banana for the eggs in the holiday baking, by number and size of eggs.
- Frosting Calculator - cups of frosting for layer cakes, 9 x 13 cakes and cupcakes, and how many batches of your recipe to make.
Also on the holiday table
- Meat Temperature Calculator - the USDA safe minimum for the turkey and every other meat on the table, and a check of your probe reading.
- Party Food Calculator - pounds of turkey, cups of sides and the number of pies for your guest count.
- Kitchen Measurement Converter - gallons, quarts, cups and liters for the brine bucket.
- Sugar Substitute Calculator - honey, maple syrup or brown sugar in place of white sugar.
- Baking Pan Converter - move the pie or the cornbread to the pan you actually own.
- Serving Size Calculator - scale a side dish recipe to the number of guests.