Brine Ratio Calculator
Calculate the correct brine ratio for poultry, pork, fish, and vegetables by weight.
Returns salt in grams and cups for 3%, 5%, and 8% brine concentrations.
Brining soaks meat in a salt water solution to improve moisture, flavor, and tenderness. The salt changes the protein structure, allowing meat to hold more water during cooking.
The ratio is a percentage of the water’s weight
Salt = Weight of the water × Target percentage
A litre of water weighs 1,000 g, so a 5% brine is 50 g of salt per litre. A US gallon weighs 3,785 g, so the same brine is 189 g. Work in grams and the whole thing collapses to one multiplication.
| Strength | Salt per Litre | Salt per Gallon | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light, 3% | 30 g | 114 g | Fish, shrimp, soaks under an hour |
| Standard, 5% | 50 g | 189 g | Chicken, turkey, pork |
| Strong, 8% | 80 g | 303 g | Short soaks where you want speed |
Do not measure salt in cups if you can avoid it. A cup is a volume and salt is sold at wildly different densities, so the same cup holds anywhere from 127 g to 288 g depending on which box you reached for:
| Salt | Weight of 1 cup | Cups for 50 g |
|---|---|---|
| Table salt | 288 g | 0.17 |
| Fine sea salt | 260 g | 0.19 |
| Kosher (Morton) | 230 g | 0.22 |
| Coarse sea salt | 220 g | 0.23 |
| Kosher (Diamond Crystal) | 127 g | 0.39 |
Diamond Crystal against table salt is more than a factor of two. That is why the old advice of “1 cup of kosher salt per gallon” is close to meaningless without naming the brand, and why this calculator asks which one you have before giving you a cup figure at all.
For the record, “1 cup per gallon” of table salt is a 7.6% brine, not the middling one it is usually presented as.
Water volume needed: Use enough water to fully submerge the meat. The rule here is 1 quart of brine per pound of meat, which is 0.95 litres per 454 g.
Brining times:
| Protein | Time |
|---|---|
| Chicken pieces | 1-2 hours |
| Whole chicken | 4-12 hours |
| Turkey (12-16 lbs) | 12-24 hours |
| Pork chops | 1-4 hours |
| Pork loin | 4-12 hours |
| Fish fillets | 30 minutes - 1 hour |
Optional additions: Sugar (half the amount of salt), peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, and herbs. Always refrigerate while brining. Rinse and pat dry before cooking.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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