Brine Ratio Chart: Salt to Water Ratio for Brine
For anyone holding a recipe that says "1 cup of salt per gallon" and wants the salt to water ratio for brine in grams instead of a guess.
5% brine: 47.3 g salt per quart of water, 189 g per gallon, 50 g per liter (about 5 1/2 tbsp Diamond Crystal, 3 1/2 tbsp Morton, or 2 1/2 tbsp table salt per quart).
A brine ratio is salt divided by water, by weight. The chart below gives the grams for six strengths and five water volumes, then the same rows in cups and tablespoons for the three salts most kitchens keep, with the reason you would pick each strength. The converter under the chart takes any percentage, any volume, and any of nine salts. Everything is weighed first; the spoons are a check.
Brine ratio chart: grams of salt by water volume
Percent is salt to water by weight. Water: 1 cup = 237 g, 1 quart = 946 g, 1/2 gallon = 1,893 g, 1 gallon = 3,785 g, 1 liter = 1,000 g. The 5% row is the site default. Sources for the use column: Morton's brining guide, Diamond Crystal's turkey brine, America's Test Kitchen's brining table, and the NCHFP dill pickle and sauerkraut recipes, all linked in the references.
| Brine | Per cup | Per quart | Per 1/2 gal | Per gallon | Per liter | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 4.7 g | 18.9 g | 37.9 g | 75.7 g | 20 g | Light. Sauerkraut and kimchi use 2% of the vegetable weight rather than a brine; as a brine, 2 to 3% is a cover brine for a ferment that runs dry (NCHFP: 1 1/2 tbsp canning salt per quart, about 2.9%). |
| 3.5% | 8.3 g | 33.1 g | 66.2 g | 132 g | 35 g | Overnight poultry brine. Diamond Crystal's turkey brine (1 cup per gallon) is 3.5%; America's Test Kitchen's turkey brine (1 cup table salt per 2 gallons) is 3.8%. Low end of the fermented cucumber band. |
| 5% | 11.8 g | 47.3 g | 94.6 g | 189 g | 50 g | The default wet brine on this site for poultry and pork, 4 to 12 hours depending on the cut. Top of the fermented cucumber band (3.5 to 5%). |
| 6% | 14.2 g | 56.8 g | 114 g | 227 g | 60 g | Morton's 4 to 5 hour brine (1 cup Morton Coarse Kosher per gallon, 6.1%). Chicken pieces and chops for 1 to 2 hours. |
| 8% | 18.9 g | 75.7 g | 151 g | 303 g | 80 g | Short brines only. America's Test Kitchen brines chicken in 1/2 cup table salt per 2 quarts (7.6%) for 30 to 60 minutes; NCHFP's fermented dill pickles run 1/2 cup canning salt to 8 cups water (7.6%). |
| 10% | 23.7 g | 94.6 g | 189 g | 379 g | 100 g | Very strong. An hour or less on thin cuts, and some fish-smoking brines. Never a whole bird. The ceiling is saturation at 36 g per 100 g of water. |
Salt to solution: the same brines counted the chemistry way, salt over salt plus water, are 2% = 2%, 3.5% = 3.4%, 5% = 4.8%, 6% = 5.7%, 8% = 7.4%, 10% = 9.1%. Saturation is 36 g of salt per 100 g of water (26.5% of the solution); nothing dissolves past it.
Cups and tablespoons by salt
Grams first, then the volume that weighs the same. Diamond Crystal 8.4 g per tablespoon and 134 g per cup (Diamond Crystal label, 0.7 g per 1/4 tsp); Morton Coarse Kosher 14.4 g and 230 g (Morton label, 1.2 g per 1/4 tsp); table and pickling salt 18 g and 288 g (USDA FoodData Central, 6 g per teaspoon). Volumes are rounded to the nearest half tablespoon.
Per gallon of water (3,785 g)
| Brine | Salt | Diamond Crystal | Morton kosher | Table salt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 75.7 g | 1/2 cup 1 tbsp | 5 1/2 tbsp | 4 tbsp |
| 3.5% | 132 g | 1 cup | 1/2 cup 1 tbsp | 7 1/2 tbsp |
| 5% | 189 g | 1 1/4 cups 2 1/2 tbsp | 3/4 cup 1 tbsp | 1/2 cup 2 1/2 tbsp |
| 6% | 227 g | 1 1/2 cups 3 tbsp | 1 cup | 3/4 cup 1/2 tbsp |
| 8% | 303 g | 2 1/4 cups | 1 1/4 cups 1 tbsp | 1 cup 1 tbsp |
| 10% | 379 g | 2 3/4 cups 1 tbsp | 1 1/2 cups 2 1/2 tbsp | 1 1/4 cups 1 tbsp |
Per quart of water (946 g)
| Brine | Salt | Diamond Crystal | Morton kosher | Table salt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 18.9 g | 2 1/2 tbsp | 4 tsp | 3 1/4 tsp |
| 3.5% | 33.1 g | 4 tbsp | 2 1/2 tbsp | 2 tbsp |
| 5% | 47.3 g | 5 1/2 tbsp | 3 1/2 tbsp | 2 1/2 tbsp |
| 6% | 56.8 g | 7 tbsp | 4 tbsp | 3 tbsp |
| 8% | 75.7 g | 1/2 cup 1 tbsp | 5 1/2 tbsp | 4 tbsp |
| 10% | 94.6 g | 1/2 cup 3 1/2 tbsp | 6 1/2 tbsp | 5 1/2 tbsp |
Per liter of water (1,000 g)
| Brine | Salt | Diamond Crystal | Morton kosher | Table salt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 20 g | 2 1/2 tbsp | 4 1/4 tsp | 3 1/4 tsp |
| 3.5% | 35 g | 4 tbsp | 2 1/2 tbsp | 2 tbsp |
| 5% | 50 g | 6 tbsp | 3 1/2 tbsp | 3 tbsp |
| 6% | 60 g | 7 tbsp | 4 tbsp | 3 1/2 tbsp |
| 8% | 80 g | 1/2 cup 1 1/2 tbsp | 5 1/2 tbsp | 4 1/2 tbsp |
| 10% | 100 g | 3/4 cup | 7 tbsp | 5 1/2 tbsp |
Other salts (Redmond, Celtic grey, fine sea, Himalayan pink, flake) are in the converter below and on the salt conversion calculator.
Convert a ratio for your salt
Pick the strength, the water, and the salt on your shelf. The grams are the answer; the spoons are for when the scale is in the dishwasher. For the reverse job (you have a recipe's salt and water and want to know what percent it is) use the full brine percentage calculator.
Your brine
0.5 to 36%. 3.5 to 6% for poultry and pork; 2 to 5% for ferments.
Changing the unit converts the amount, so the brine stays the same.
Unrefined salts are weighed up for the water and minerals they carry, so the sodium chloride lands on the percentage.
5% brine, 1 quart of water
47.3 g salt
about 5 1/2 tbsp Diamond Crystal
- Water
- 946 g (1 quart)
- Salt to water
- 5% (47.3 g per 946 g)
- Of the solution
- 4.8% (salt over salt plus water)
- Per gallon
- 189 g for the same brine
Dissolve the salt in a cup or two of the water, then add the rest cold. Chill the brine to 40°F (4°C) before the meat goes in.
How to read the chart
Find the strength in the left column, read across to the amount of water you are using, and weigh that many grams of salt. The percent is salt divided by water: a 5% brine is 5 g of salt for every 100 g of water, so a quart (946 g) takes 47 g and a gallon (3,785 g) takes 189 g. Water can be measured by volume without penalty: a liter weighs a kilogram and a cup weighs 237 g.
The spoon tables are the same grams turned into the volume each salt takes up. They are three tables and not one because the three salts are three different densities: a cup of Diamond Crystal is 134 g, a cup of Morton Coarse Kosher is 230 g, and a cup of table or pickling salt is 288 g. That is why "1 cup of kosher salt per gallon" is a 3.5% brine from a red box and a 6.1% brine from a blue one, and why both makers can print that line and both be right for their own salt.
Two conventions exist for the percent. Brining recipes and every calculator on this site count salt against the water; chemistry counts it against the whole solution, which reads a little lower (5% of the water is 4.8% of the solution). The line under the chart converts each row.
Choosing a strength by food
Whole turkey, whole chicken, pork loin, overnight: 3.5 to 5%. Diamond Crystal's turkey brine is 1 cup of its salt per gallon, which weighs out at 3.5%, left overnight. America's Test Kitchen brines a 12 to 17 lb turkey in 1 cup of table salt to 2 gallons, 3.8%, for 6 to 12 hours. Morton's overnight ratio is 1/2 cup of Morton Coarse Kosher per gallon, 3%, for up to 14 hours. The turkey brine calculator and the main brine calculator both default to 5% and let you drop to 3.5% for a long soak.
Chicken pieces, chops, a few hours: 5 to 6%. Morton's 4 to 5 hour brine is 1 cup of Morton Coarse Kosher per gallon, 6.1%. At 5%, chicken pieces want 1 to 2 hours and chops 2 to 4; at 6% take the shorter end of each.
Under an hour: 6 to 8%. America's Test Kitchen soaks a whole chicken or 4 lb of pieces in 1/2 cup of table salt per 2 quarts, 7.6%, for 30 to 60 minutes, and boneless breasts in half that salt. A strong brine works fast and keeps working, so the timer matters more than the ratio. Do not leave anything in an 8% brine overnight.
Fermented cucumbers: 3.5 to 5% on this site's fermentation brine calculator. The NCHFP recipe is saltier, 1/2 cup of canning salt to 8 cups of water (7.6%) plus a little vinegar, and makes a pickle people often rinse. Below 2% a ferment softens and is easier to lose to yeast and mold.
Sauerkraut and kimchi: not a brine. Salt is 2% of the vegetable weight (2 to 2.5% is the band; NCHFP's 3 tablespoons per 5 lb of cabbage is about 2.4%), and the cabbage makes its own liquid. If the kraut needs topping up, NCHFP's cover brine is 1 1/2 tablespoons of canning salt per quart, about 2.9%, which is the chart's 2% row rounded up a little. The kimchi and sauerkraut calculator does the vegetable-weight math.
Equilibrium brining: also not on this chart, because the denominator is meat plus water, usually 1.5%, and the meat can never get saltier than that. The equilibrium brine calculator handles it.
Weighing versus measuring
A scale removes the whole problem the spoon tables exist to solve. 47 g is 47 g from any box, and a scale that reads to 1 g is accurate enough for anything on this chart down to a cup of water. The gram columns are the chart; the spoon tables are a translation of it.
If you must measure, two things move the number. The salt: the same cup holds 134, 230, or 288 g depending on the box. The scoop: America's Test Kitchen reports 10 g per tablespoon of Diamond Crystal and 16 g of Morton, which works out to 160 g and 256 g per cup, heavier than the label figures this site uses (134 and 230), because a dipped-and-packed scoop holds more than a spooned one. The tables here use the label figures, spooned and leveled, rounded to the nearest half tablespoon, so a measured brine lands within a few percent of the target rather than on it.
When a recipe gives a volume and no salt brand, use the salt conversion calculator to turn it into grams for the salt the author likely used, then check that weight against this chart to see what strength the recipe actually is.
Common mistakes
- Swapping salts by the cup. A recipe written for Diamond Crystal, measured with table salt, delivers 2.15 times the salt. A 3.5% turkey brine becomes 7.5%, and an overnight soak at 7.5% is a salt-cured bird. Weigh, or convert first.
- Counting the salt in the water. If you add 50 g of salt to 950 g of water to "make a liter of 5% brine," you have a 5.3% brine by the brining convention. Measure the water, then add the salt to it.
- Strong brine, long time. The ratio and the clock are one setting, not two. Every step up in percent is a step down in hours; 6 to 8% brines are for an hour or two, and 24 hours is the ceiling at any strength.
- Forgetting the salt that is already there. Kosher and enhanced poultry ("contains up to x% solution" on the label), soy sauce, stock, and seasoning blends add salt the chart does not know about. Skip the brine or halve it.
- Warm brine on cold meat. Dissolve the salt in a little hot water, make up the rest with cold water and ice (counting the ice as water), and chill to 40°F (4°C) before the meat goes in.
Safety
Brine and meat stay at 40°F (4°C) or below the whole time, which USDA FSIS gives as the refrigerator limit; a cooler with ice works if the water stays under that. Morton's guide says the same for a cooler brine. Perishable food should not sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours, and that clock includes the time the meat spends in a brine that has warmed up. No wet brine on this chart runs longer than 24 hours, whatever the strength.
Brining does not cook or cure anything. Poultry is cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F, and beef, pork, lamb, and veal to 145°F (USDA FSIS). Used brine has had raw meat in it; pour it out. Ferment safety rests on acidity rather than temperature; the pH calculator covers it. Nothing on this chart is a curing brine: curing salts are dosed by meat weight to a nitrite limit, and the bacon curing calculator is the only page here that handles them.
What you'll need
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- Digital kitchen scale reading to 1 g, which turns every row of this chart into one number and makes the spoon tables optional.
- Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt or Morton Coarse Kosher Salt, whichever your recipes assume; pickling salt if you ferment, since it carries no anti-caking agent to cloud the brine.
- Food-grade container or brining bag that fits the refrigerator with the meat submerged.
- Instant-read thermometer for the 40°F check on the brine and the 165°F or 145°F finish on the meat.
How this page is checked
This chart was built by Cedrick Reese for BrineCalculators.com. The gram columns are arithmetic on the water weights stated above the chart and are the same figures every calculator on this site produces for the same inputs. The salt densities come from the makers' nutrition labels (Diamond Crystal 0.7 g and Morton Coarse Kosher 1.2 g per 1/4 teaspoon) and USDA FoodData Central for table salt, and the spoon tables and the converter are generated from that one table so they cannot disagree with each other.
The "what it is for" column quotes ratios read directly from Morton's brining guide, Diamond Crystal's turkey brine recipe, America's Test Kitchen's brining table, and the NCHFP dill pickle and sauerkraut recipes, each converted to a percentage with the densities above; the refrigeration and cooking temperatures are from USDA FSIS. When any of those pages changes, the row and the reference change with it. If a figure here disagrees with its source, that is a bug; use the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the salt to water ratio for brine?
5% by weight is the working standard: 5 g of salt for every 100 g of water, which is 47 g per quart, 189 g per gallon, or 50 g per liter. Poultry and pork wet brines run from 3.5% (Diamond Crystal's 1 cup per gallon, overnight) to 6% (Morton's 1 cup per gallon, 4 to 5 hours). Weigh the salt; a cup of Diamond Crystal is 134 g and a cup of Morton is 230 g, so the same recipe line gives two different brines.
How much salt per gallon of water for brine?
132 g for a 3.5% brine, 189 g for 5%, 227 g for 6%. In spoons that is 1 cup, 1 1/4 cups plus 2 1/2 tablespoons, or 1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons of Diamond Crystal; 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon, 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon, or 1 cup of Morton Coarse Kosher; and 7 1/2 tablespoons, 1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons, or 3/4 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon of table salt. The chart above has every row per gallon; the per-quart and per-liter tables below the chart do the smaller batches.
Is the brine percentage measured against the water or the whole solution?
Against the water, on this site and in brining recipes generally: 5 g of salt in 100 g of water is a 5% brine. A chemistry text counts the salt in the total, so the same mix is 4.8% of the solution (5 divided by 105). The two are close at brining strengths and drift apart at the top; a saturated brine is 36 g per 100 g of water, which is 26.5% of the solution. The converter on this page shows both.
Can I use table salt instead of kosher salt in a brine?
Yes, by weight. Table salt is the same sodium chloride as kosher salt and dissolves faster; 47 g of table salt and 47 g of Diamond Crystal make the same 5% quart. By volume they are not the same: a tablespoon of table salt is 18 g, Morton kosher 14.4 g, Diamond Crystal 8.4 g. If a recipe says 1/2 cup kosher salt and you measure 1/2 cup of table salt, you get 144 g instead of 67 g (Diamond Crystal) or 115 g (Morton). Iodized table salt can cloud a brine and taste faintly bitter in a ferment; for meat it is fine.
How much salt for a 5% brine per liter of water?
50 g. A liter of water weighs 1,000 g and 5% of that is 50 g of salt, which is about 6 tablespoons of Diamond Crystal, 3 1/2 tablespoons of Morton Coarse Kosher, or 3 tablespoons of table salt. Every row in the chart has a per-liter column, and the converter takes liters or milliliters directly.
How long can meat sit in a brine?
Never past 24 hours for a wet brine, and shorter as the brine gets stronger. At 5%, chicken pieces take 1 to 2 hours, a whole chicken 4 to 6, pork chops 2 to 4, and a whole turkey overnight, 12 to 14 hours. Morton's guide pairs its 6% brine with 4 to 5 hours and its 3% brine with overnight up to 14 hours; America's Test Kitchen leaves a turkey 6 to 12 hours at 3.8%. The meat and the brine stay at 40°F (4°C) or below the whole time, per USDA FSIS.
Does sugar count toward the brine ratio?
No. The percentage is salt divided by water; sugar, herbs, garlic, peppercorns, and aromatics are neither. Add sugar at half to equal the salt weight if you want it (a 5% brine often carries 2.5 to 5% sugar) and the salt figure does not change. Ingredients that already contain salt do count: soy sauce, fish sauce, miso, stock, and seasoning blends. Weigh the plain salt, work out the percentage, and treat the result as a minimum.
What is the strongest brine you can make?
About 36 g of salt per 100 g of water at room temperature, which is 26.5% of the whole solution; past that the salt sits on the bottom undissolved. Nothing on this chart goes near it. A 10% brine is already a short soak for thin cuts, and above 8% the time has to drop to an hour or less. If a recipe calls for a saturated brine it is usually a cold-smoking or fish recipe with its own timing; do not apply it to poultry.
References
- Morton Salt, A Guide to Brining (1 cup Morton Coarse Kosher per gallon for 4 to 5 hours; 1/2 cup overnight up to 14 hours)
- Diamond Crystal Salt, Basic Turkey Brining (1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt to 1 gallon of cold water, overnight)
- America's Test Kitchen, Brining Meat (table salt and water by cut, with times)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, Dill Pickles (1/2 cup salt to 8 cups water)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, Sauerkraut (3 tablespoons salt per 5 pounds cabbage; 1 1/2 tablespoons per quart cover brine)
- USDA FSIS, Steps to Keep Food Safe (40°F refrigerator, 165°F poultry, 145°F other cuts)
- Morton Coarse Kosher Salt nutrition facts (1/4 tsp = 1.2 g)
- America's Test Kitchen, the wrong kind of salt could ruin your dinner (kosher salt scoop weights)
Disclaimer
For educational purposes only: this chart and the converter are intended for educational and informational purposes and are not a substitute for food safety guidance from a qualified source.
Food safety responsibility: you are responsible for keeping brine and meat at or below 40°F (4°C), for cooking to the USDA FSIS minimum internal temperatures, and for following local food safety regulations. BrineCalculators.com makes no warranty about the accuracy of these figures for any particular salt, recipe, or purpose and is not liable for any illness, injury, or damages resulting from their use. See the full disclaimer.