Brine salt from a percentage, the equilibrium method or a meat brining chart, in grams and in spoons of table salt, Morton or Diamond Crystal kosher, plus dill pickle brine.
Brine Calculator - Salt for Turkey, Chicken, Pork, Pickles
Brine salt from a percentage, the equilibrium method or a meat brining chart, in grams and in spoons of table salt, Morton or Diamond Crystal kosher, plus dill pickle brine.
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Salt for a brine, by the cup or by the percent
This brine calculator gives you the salt for a brine three ways: from a percentage and an amount of water, from the America's Test Kitchen meat brining chart for chicken, turkey and pork, or from the National Center for Home Food Preservation recipe for fermented dill pickles, scaled to your cucumbers. Each answer is printed in grams and ounces and as a kitchen measure for table salt, Morton kosher and Diamond Crystal kosher, because the same cup of those three salts holds very different amounts of salt.
Three ways in, one field each
- By salt percentage - water amount in gallons, quarts, cups or liters, the percentage, and an optional food weight. With a food weight the calculator switches to the equilibrium method.
- Meat brining chart - pick one of nine cuts, from four chicken breasts to a 24 lb turkey.
- Fermented dill pickles - the weight of pickling cucumbers in pounds.
The percentage here is the salt weight as a share of the water weight, the way fermenting recipes usually write "a 3.5% brine". The result also shows the share of the finished brine, salt plus water, so you can match a recipe that counts the other way.
Same recipe, different salt box
Most brine trouble starts here. The chart was written for table salt, and a cup of kosher salt is mostly air between big flakes. America's Test Kitchen weighed a teaspoon of each: table salt about 6 g, Morton kosher 4.8 g, Diamond Crystal 2.8 g. Below is the same salt, before and after the swap is done by weight.
Before: one cup of Diamond Crystal
Measured cup for cup in the turkey brine, it puts about 134 g of salt into 2 gallons instead of 288 g. The brine comes out at less than half strength.
After: matched by weight
2 cups + 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp of Diamond Crystal, or 1 1/4 cups of Morton kosher, carry the same 288 g as one cup of table salt.
Before: a kosher recipe made with table salt
A pickle brine written for 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp of Diamond Crystal per quart, made with the same spoonfuls of table salt, lands at about 4.3% instead of 2%.
After: entered as a percentage
A 2% brine for 1 quart is 19 g whatever the box: 1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp table salt, 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Morton, 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp Diamond Crystal.
The weights behind those cards, per spoon and per cup, with the measure that matches one cup of table salt:
| Salt | 1 tsp | 1 tbsp | 1 cup | Same salt as 1 cup of table salt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Table salt | 6 g | 18 g | 288 g | 1 cup |
| Morton kosher | 4.8 g | 14.4 g | 230 g | 1 1/4 cups |
| Diamond Crystal kosher | 2.8 g | 8.4 g | 134 g | 2 cups + 2 tbsp + 3/4 tsp |
USDA FoodData Central lists the same 6 g per teaspoon of table salt, though it puts a full cup at 292 g; the calculator stays with the teaspoon figure for every size of measure.
The ATK rule of thumb, 1 teaspoon of table salt = 1 1/2 of Morton = 2 of Diamond Crystal, is a rounded version of the same weights. The calculator uses the weights, which is why its Morton figure is a little smaller than the rule gives. A kitchen scale beats both.
The meat chart, with the strength added
Rows, water, salt and times as America's Test Kitchen prints them, all with table salt. The last column is not in the chart: it is the salt weight divided by the water weight, worked out here so you can see that the short brines are the strong ones.
| Cut | Time | Water + table salt | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 whole chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 lb | 1/2 to 1 hour | 2 qt + 1/2 cup | 7.6% |
| 2 whole chickens | 1/2 to 1 hour | 3 qt + 3/4 cup | 7.6% |
| 4 lb bone-in chicken pieces | 1/2 to 1 hour | 2 qt + 1/2 cup | 7.6% |
| 4 boneless, skinless breasts | 1/2 to 1 hour | 2 qt + 1/4 cup | 3.8% |
| Turkey, 12 to 17 lb | 6 to 12 hours | 2 gal + 1 cup | 3.8% |
| Turkey, 18 to 24 lb | 6 to 12 hours | 3 gal + 1 1/2 cups | 3.8% |
| Bone-in turkey breast, 6 to 8 lb | 3 to 6 hours | 1 gal + 1/2 cup | 3.8% |
| 4 bone-in rib loin pork chops | 1 hour | 1 1/2 qt + 3 tbsp | 3.8% |
| Pork roast, 3 to 6 lb | 1 1/2 to 2 hours | 2 qt + 1/4 cup | 3.8% |
Two strengths, then. The whole birds and bone-in pieces go into a 7.6% brine for under an hour; everything else sits in 3.8%, twice as weak, for longer. If you want a 15 lb turkey in a smaller pot, enter 3.8 in the percentage mode with the water that fits.
Wet brine against equilibrium brine
A wet brine counts only the water: a 3.5% brine for 1 quart is 33 g of salt, about 1 tbsp + 2 1/2 tsp of table salt. The equilibrium method also counts the food, so the salt spreads into both and nothing can end up saltier than the number you chose. Put 2 lb of peppers in 1 quart of water at 2% and the salt rises from 19 g to 37 g, because the peppers weigh almost as much as the water.
Water only, 2%, 1 quart
19 g (0.7 oz), 1.96% of the finished brine.
Water plus 2 lb food, 2%
37 g (1.3 oz), 2 tbsp + 1/4 tsp table salt.
Fermented dill pickles, scaled
The NCHFP recipe is per gallon of container: 4 lb of 4-inch pickling cucumbers, 1/2 cup salt, 1/4 cup of 5 percent vinegar and 8 cups of water. Enter 8 lb and you get 1 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1 gallon of water in a 2 gallon crock. The recipe asks for 3 to 4 weeks at 70 to 75 °F, or 5 to 6 weeks at 55 to 65 °F, and nothing above 80 °F. New Mexico State University Extension advises pure canning or pickling salt, since the anti-caking agents in table salt can cloud the brine.
Brine questions from the kitchen counter
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