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Brine Calculator

Find how much salt and sugar to dissolve for a brine of any strength, or for an equilibrium brine based on the food's weight.

Level: Grades 6–7

  • Common Core standard 6.RP.A.3.cFind a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.
  • Common Core standard 7.RP.A.3Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems. Examples: simple interest, tax, markups and markdowns, gratuities and commissions, fees, percent increase and decrease, percent error.
Printable worksheet

Brine Calculator

Know the answer you need? Pick an input to work backward.

Inputs
Brine type

3–6% is typical for poultry and pork; 26% is about saturated.

Optional; 0 for a plain salt brine.

Result

Salt

204.6 g

Dissolve 204.6 g of salt and 102.3 g of sugar in 1 US gal of water.

Salt in ounces
7.22 oz
Fine table salt by volume
11.4 tbspCoarse and flaky kosher salts are lighter: use more by volume, or weigh.
Sugar
102.3 g
Granulated sugar by volume
0.51 cups
While brining
Keep it in the refrigeratorBrine meat or poultry at 40 °F (4 °C) or below, and throw the brine away afterwards.

See the step-by-step solution ↓

Step-by-step solution

  1. Change the water into grams so everything is weighed the same way. 1 mL of water weighs about 1 g

    1 US gal=3,785.41 g

  2. Find the water's share of the finished brine: whatever is left after the salt and sugar shares

    1−0.05−0.025=0.925

  3. Multiply the water by the salt share, then divide by the water's share. That makes salt the chosen share of the whole brine

    3,785.41×0.050.925=204.616853 g

  4. Work out the sugar the same way, using the sugar share

    3,785.41×0.0250.925=102.308427 g

  5. Check the answer: the salt divided by the whole brine's weight gives back your chosen percentage

    204.62(3,785.41+204.62+102.31)×100=5 %

Test yourself

20 quick questions built from this calculator's formula: work out results, predict what happens when an input changes, and work backward from an answer. Every answer comes with the working.

What this calculator does

Find out exactly how much salt and sugar to stir into your water for a brine. A brine is salt dissolved in water, often with some sugar. It's used to season and moisten meat, poultry and fish, or to pickle vegetables. Recipes describe brines by strength, such as a 5% brine. How much salt that takes depends on how much water you use. This calculator works it out in grams, so the brine comes out the same whichever salt is in your cupboard.

It handles the two common ways of writing a brine. A brine strength is the salt's share of the finished brine by weight. It's the usual way to describe a soak for a turkey or pork chops. An equilibrium brine sets the salt as a share of the water plus the food. So the food ends up seasoned at that level, however long it sits. It's popular for pickles, ferments and long, gentle brining.

Where it's used

Why this math matters outside the classroom:

  • Holiday turkey. A cook making a 6% brine with 2 gallons of water dissolves 7,570.8 × 0.06 ÷ 0.94 = 483.2 g of salt.
  • Pickling. A home fermenter adds 2% of the combined 1,000 g of water and 600 g of cabbage, which is 32 g of salt.
  • Percent of a whole. Students see why 50 g of salt in 1,000 g of water is 4.76% of the brine, not 5%.
  • Restaurant prep. A kitchen scales a 4% brine to 20 L of water and weighs 833.3 g of salt for a batch of chicken.
  • Science class. Students compare brine strengths with seawater, which is about 3.5% salt by weight.

Grade level and standards: Grades 6–7; Common Core State Standards for Mathematics 6.RP.A.3.c, 7.RP.A.3. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

How to use it

  1. Choose a brine strength or an equilibrium brine.
  2. Enter the amount of water and its unit.
  3. For a brine strength, enter the salt and sugar percentages. For an equilibrium brine, enter the weight of the food and the salt percentage (and sugar, if you like).
  4. Weigh out the salt and sugar shown and dissolve them in the water. Chill the brine before adding the food.

What the inputs mean

Brine type
A brine strength depends on the brine alone, so the food's weight doesn't matter. An equilibrium brine includes the food. That's because salt spreads through the water and the food until both hold the same percentage.
Water
Water is converted at 1 g per mL. Enter enough to cover the food completely.
Salt
Around 3–6% is typical for poultry and pork soaks of a few hours to a day. Stronger brines work faster but make it easier to over-salt.
Sugar
Optional; 0 for a plain salt brine.

Formula and method

brine strength: salt (g) = water (g) × s ÷ (1 − s − g)
brine strength: sugar (g) = water (g) × g ÷ (1 − s − g)
equilibrium: salt (g) = (water + food) (g) × s; sugar = (water + food) × g
s, g = salt and sugar percentages ÷ 100; water: 1 mL = 1 g

In the formulas, s is the salt share and g is the sugar share, each written as a decimal: 5% becomes 0.05. The "(g)" after a word means grams.

A 5% brine means 5% of the finished brine's weight is salt. If salt makes up s of the total and sugar g, then water makes up the rest, 1 − s − g. So the total weight is the water's weight divided by that share. The salt is s times the total. That's why 1 litre of water needs 52.6 g of salt for a 5% brine, not 50 g.

An equilibrium brine skips that step. The salt is just the chosen percentage of everything in the container, water and food together. Volume conversions use typical kitchen weights. Fine table salt is taken as 18 g per tablespoon, and granulated sugar as 200 g per cup.

Worked example

You want a brine of 5% salt and 2.5% sugar, using 1 US gallon of water, for a pork loin.

  1. Water: 1 US gal = 3,785.41 mL, or 3,785.41 g.
  2. Water's share: 1 − 0.05 − 0.025 = 0.925.
  3. Salt: 3,785.41 × 0.05 ÷ 0.925 = 204.6 g, about 11.4 tbsp of fine table salt.
  4. Sugar: 3,785.41 × 0.025 ÷ 0.925 = 102.3 g, about 0.51 cup.

Result: Dissolve 204.6 g of salt and 102.3 g of sugar in 1 gallon of water.

Understanding the result

Weigh the salt if you can. A tablespoon of fine table salt weighs roughly twice as much as a tablespoon of light, flaky kosher salt. So measuring by the spoon can make a brine much too salty or too weak.

Brining time depends on the strength and the thickness of the food. Strong brines need short times. Equilibrium brines are forgiving and can run longer.

Assumptions and limitations

  • Water weighs 1 g per mL.
  • Percentages are by weight.
  • Salt is pure sodium chloride; additives in some salts are ignored.
  • It doesn't give brining times, which depend on the food's size and the recipe.
  • Volume conversions are for fine table salt and granulated sugar only.
  • Brines above about 26% salt can't dissolve all the salt at room temperature.
  • It only works out amounts. For curing with nitrite or for canning, follow a tested recipe.

Frequently asked questions

How much salt do I need per gallon for a brine?

For a 5% brine, use about 199 g (7 oz) of salt per US gallon with no sugar. With 2.5% sugar, use about 205 g. The calculator divides by the share left for water, as shown above.

What is an equilibrium brine?

It's a brine where the salt is a percentage of the water and the food together. Given time, the food and liquid even out to that percentage. So the food can't become saltier than you planned.

Can I use kosher salt or sea salt?

Yes. Use the same weight of salt. Only the volume changes, because flakes and coarse crystals pack more loosely than fine table salt.

Is it safe to brine at room temperature?

No. Keep meat, poultry and fish in the refrigerator at 40 °F (4 °C) or below while they brine. Throw out the used brine instead of reusing it.

Sources

How this calculator is checked

Method: Percentage by weight of solution (salt = water × s ÷ (1 − s − g)) and equilibrium brining (salt = (water + food) × s); water at 1 g/mL; spoon conversions from the shared kitchen densities (table salt 288 g/cup, granulated sugar 200 g/cup). Refrigeration at 40 °F or below per USDA FSIS. The calculation is covered by automated tests with known reference values and edge cases. Last updated 2026-10-18. Found a problem? Tell us.

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