Brine Calculator — salt % for pickles & curing
Work out exactly how much salt you need for a simple or equilibrium brine at any percentage — pickles, sauerkraut, poultry — in your browser.
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser. Your input and output are never sent to a server or stored — fully private.
Work out how much salt to add for a brine — simple (salt as % of water) or equilibrium (salt as % of food + water).
Simple brine: salt as a percentage of the water weight (1 ml ≈ 1 g). Equilibrium brine: salt as a percentage of food + water, so the whole system settles at that salinity. 1 tbsp table salt ≈ 18 g — coarse and flaky salts weigh less per spoon, so weigh when you can.
⚠ Culinary guidance only. For preservation or canning, follow a trusted, tested recipe — salt levels there are a matter of food safety.
About this tool
Getting the salt right is the whole game in pickling, fermenting and brining poultry, and this calculator does it by weight. Choose a brine percentage, enter your water amount — or water plus vegetables for the equilibrium method — and get the exact grams of salt. Presets cover sauerkraut and other lacto-ferments around 2–3%, cucumber pickles, and stronger poultry brines, with both the simple water-only method and equilibrium brining supported. It works with any salt as long as you weigh it. Everything is computed locally in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a simple brine and an equilibrium brine?
A simple brine calculates salt against the water only: 1000 g of water at 5% takes 50 g of salt. It is quick, but as the food soaks it dilutes, so the final saltiness drifts. An equilibrium brine calculates salt against water plus food weight: salt migrates until everything settles at exactly your target percentage, no matter how long it sits. Fermenters favour equilibrium for predictable, repeatable results; simple brines suit short jobs like brining a chicken overnight.
What percentage should I use for common projects?
Typical ranges: sauerkraut and most fermented vegetables sit at 2–3%, where lactic-acid bacteria thrive but spoilage organisms struggle; cucumber pickles often run 3.5–5% because cucumbers soften easily; olives go higher still. Poultry brines are commonly 5–6% for a few hours to overnight. Below about 2% a ferment can go soft or slimy; well above it, fermentation slows and the result may be unpleasantly salty. When in doubt, start mid-range and take notes for next time.
Does the type of salt matter, and is anything I enter stored?
By weight, plain salts are interchangeable — 30 g of fine sea salt and 30 g of coarse kosher salt contain the same sodium chloride. By volume they are wildly different: a tablespoon of table salt weighs nearly twice as much as one of flaky kosher salt, which is why this calculator only speaks grams. Avoid iodised salt and anti-caking agents for ferments, as they can inhibit bacteria or cloud the brine. Your inputs are processed entirely in your browser and never uploaded or stored.
How long should something stay in the brine?
Salt penetrates by thickness, not by weight, so a thin chicken breast needs far less time than a whole bird of the same total mass. A common starting point for a simple brine is about an hour per 2.5 cm of thickness, and going far beyond that makes the surface unpleasantly salty before the centre is seasoned. Equilibrium brining sidesteps the problem: because the salt is dosed to the final concentration you want, leaving it longer only makes it more even, not saltier.
If I add sugar, should I use less salt?
No — keep the salt at the percentage the recipe calls for and treat sugar as a separate addition. Salt is what changes the protein and holds moisture; sugar mostly balances the taste and helps browning, and it does not substitute for salt's function. A typical starting ratio is half as much sugar as salt by weight. Do remember that added sugar raises the total dissolved solids, so a hydrometer or salinity meter reading will no longer reflect salt concentration alone.