Dry Brine Calculator: Salt per Pound by Cut and Salt Brand

Dry brine salt percentage: 1%, 1.5%, or less?

The 1% and 1.5% figures are salt as a share of the meat's weight: 10 g or 15 g of salt per kilogram, or 4.5 g or 6.8 g per pound. Destination BBQ puts a whole chicken at about 1 to 1.5% and chicken pieces at 0.75 to 1.25%, and ChefSteps founder Chris Young salts a turkey at 1.5% of its weight (PBS NewsHour).

This calculator starts lower, at 0.6% for poultry, because that is Cook's Illustrated's 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal per pound worked out by weight. It stops at 1.5%, where the salt starts to taste more like a cure than seasoning. If you prefer the higher figure, type 1 or 1.5 into the percentage field: a 4 lb chicken takes 18.1 g of salt at 1% and 27.2 g at 1.5%.

How this is calculated

How much salt to dry brine is a percentage of the meat's weight: about 0.6% for poultry and roasts, 0.9% for steaks and chops, 0.5% for fish. Enter the cut and weight into this dry brine calculator and it gives the grams, then converts them to teaspoons for the kosher salt you have (Diamond Crystal, Morton, or table salt weigh very differently per spoon), the hours in the fridge, and the baking powder dose if you want crisp skin on poultry.

The salt is a share of the meat's weight, figured in grams. The teaspoons come afterwards from the density of the salt you picked, never from a multiplier.

salt (g)          = meat (g) x percentage
teaspoons         = salt (g) / grams per teaspoon of your salt
                    (Diamond Crystal 2.8, Morton kosher 4.8, table 6.0)
baking powder     = Diamond Crystal teaspoons / 4        skin-on poultry only
hours             = from the time table for the cut, thickness first

Percentage by cut

The custom field runs from 0.3% to 1.5%. Above 1.5% of the meat's weight is a cure, not a seasoning; the bacon curing calculator handles that with the nitrite it needs.

Salt density

So a teaspoon of Morton is about 1.7 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal, and a teaspoon of table salt is about 2.1. Redmond and Celtic grey carry water and minerals; when you pick one, the calculator divides by its salt share so the grams you weigh out deliver the same sodium chloride.

Baking powder for skin

Kenji Lopez-Alt's whole-turkey formula is 1/2 cup Diamond Crystal (or 6 tablespoons Morton) to 2 tablespoons baking powder, which is 1 part baking powder to 4 parts Diamond Crystal by volume. The calculator holds that ratio on the grams of salt, so it comes out the same whichever salt you chose. Use it on skin-on poultry only, and use baking powder, not baking soda.

How dry brining works

Dry brining is salt rubbed onto the meat and left in the fridge, uncovered, before it cooks.

• Salt draws moisture out. In the first hour the surface goes wet as salt pulls water from the meat.
• The salt dissolves. That water dissolves the salt into a strong brine sitting on the surface.
• The brine goes back in. Over hours the salt water diffuses into the muscle, seasoning it below the surface; the surface dries again.
• Proteins loosen. Salt dissolves some of the muscle protein so the meat holds more of its own juice when cooked.

Crisp skin on poultry

Dry skin browns; wet skin steams. The salt does half the work by pulling water out of the skin, and the uncovered rest in the fridge does the other half.

What helps

• Pat the bird dry before salting, and salt under the skin of the breast and thighs as well as over it.
• Rest it uncovered on a wire rack over a rimmed sheet pan so air reaches every side. 12 to 24 hours for a chicken, 24 to 48 for a turkey.
• Add baking powder at 1 part to 4 parts Diamond Crystal (the toggle above) if you want the skin blistered as well as brown.
• Roast hot, 425°F (220°C) or above, and do not cover the bird. Spatchcocking exposes all the skin to the heat.
• Keep wet marinades and glazes off until the last minutes of cooking.
• Rest 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Food safety

Safe minimum internal temperatures, USDA FSIS:

• Poultry (whole, parts, ground): 165°F (74°C)
• Beef, pork, lamb, veal (steaks, chops, roasts): 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest
• Ground beef, pork, lamb, veal: 160°F (71°C)
• Fish: 145°F (63°C), or until the flesh is opaque and flakes

• Brine in the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below the whole time, never on the counter.
• Never leave raw meat between 40 and 140°F (4 to 60°C) for more than 2 hours.
• 72 hours is the ceiling, and only for large roasts and brisket; most cuts are done in 12 to 48.
• Use separate boards and utensils for raw meat, and throw away salt that has touched it.
• Use a thermometer. Color is not a reliable sign of doneness.

Common mistakes

• Measuring Diamond Crystal recipes with Morton by the spoon. That is 1.7 times the salt. Weigh it, or pick your salt above.
• Salting to a cure level. 2% of the weight is bacon territory. Stay in the 0.5 to 0.9% band.
• Salting wet meat. Pat it dry first or the salt slides off.
• Covering the meat. Air movement is what dries the surface; leave it uncovered.
• Rushing a whole bird. 2 hours seasons the outside of a turkey; the inside needs a day or two.
• Brining fish overnight. Most fish is done in 30 minutes to 2 hours; a whole fish in 4.
• Salting only the outside of poultry. Loosen the skin and salt the meat under it.

Brining time guide by cut

Thicker cuts need longer; thinner cuts need less. Every time here is uncovered in a 40°F (4°C) fridge.

The steak, chop, and thin-cut floors follow AmazingRibs (1 to 2 hours minimum); the whole-bird and roast ranges follow Cook's Illustrated (6 to 24 hours for chicken and roasts, 24 to 48 for turkey). The brining time calculator works from thickness for both wet and dry brines.

What you'll need

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How this page is checked

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators and guides

• Wet brine vs dry brine Which method for which cut, and why
• Turkey brine calculator Wet or dry brine for a whole bird by weight
• Salt conversion calculator Swap Diamond Crystal, Morton, table, and sea salt by weight
• Brining time calculator Hours by cut and thickness for wet and dry brines
• Turkey thawing time calculator Fridge days per pound before you can salt it
• How long to dry brine a steak Hours by thickness, from a thin skirt steak to a two-inch tomahawk

References

• USDA FSIS, Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart
• FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures
• AmazingRibs, dry brining (1/2 teaspoon kosher salt per pound)
• Virtual Weber Bullet, all about dry brining (Cook's Illustrated per-pound figures; the Kenji Lopez-Alt baking powder ratio)
• America's Test Kitchen, salt types and measurements
• Dad Cooks Dinner, salt by weight
• Morton Salt, a guide to brining
• Food52, the difference between Morton's and Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• Barbecue FAQ, dry brine calculator
• Destination BBQ, brining methods
• Destination BBQ, dry brine by weight (about 1 to 1.5% for a whole chicken, 0.75 to 1.25% for pieces)
• PBS NewsHour, how to cook the perfect Thanksgiving turkey (Chris Young of ChefSteps: 1.5% of the turkey's weight)

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