Food & cooking · Brining
Brine percentage calculator.
Enter the salt and the water you actually used to see the brine strength, or correct a brine to a target percentage.
Inputs
Your brine
Enter the salt and the water.
How to calculate brine percentage
Brine percentage is salt weight divided by water weight, times 100. 50 g of salt in 1,000 g of water is a 5% brine. Measured against the whole solution (salt plus water) the same brine is 50 / 1,050 = 4.76%, which is why two sources can quote slightly different numbers for the same brine. This tool shows both. To go the other way, from a target percentage to grams, use the brine ratio calculator.
Why weigh the salt. NCHFP's fermented dill pickle recipe uses 1/2 cup of salt in 8 cups of water (plus 1/4 cup of 5% vinegar) and states no percentage. Half a cup is 8 tablespoons. With table salt at 18 g per tablespoon that is 144 g in about 1893 g of water, or 7.6% of the water weight. With Diamond Crystal kosher salt at 8 g per tablespoon it is 64 g, or 3.4%. The same spoons give brines that differ by more than double, so weigh the salt and use the salt the recipe names (NCHFP recommends canning or pickling salt; the percentages here are our arithmetic from King Arthur Baking's per-tablespoon weights, which do not include canning salt).
Correcting a brine. To raise a brine, add salt equal to the water weight x (target% - current%) / 100. To weaken one, the water needed in total is salt weight / target%, so you add that minus the water you started with.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the percentage of a brine?
Divide the weight of the salt by the weight of the water and multiply by 100. 30 g of salt in 600 g of water is 5%.
How much salt is a 3.5% brine?
35 g of salt per 1,000 g (1 litre) of water. Multiply the water weight by 0.035.
Why does the same recipe give different strengths with different salts?
Salts differ in weight per spoon. King Arthur Baking lists a tablespoon of table salt at 18 g, Morton kosher at 16 g and Diamond Crystal kosher at 8 g, so a spoon-measured brine can be more than twice as strong with one than another. Weighing removes the problem.
Is brine percent of water or of the whole solution?
Most recipes mean salt as a percent of the water weight. The percent of the whole solution is slightly lower. This tool shows both so you can match your recipe.
What brine percentage does NCHFP use for fermented pickles?
NCHFP gives volumes (1/2 cup salt, 1/4 cup vinegar and 8 cups water per gallon of container) and no percentage. See the worked conversion above and follow the recipe exactly; do not cut back the salt.
Sources
Checked
- NCHFP: Dill Pickles (fermented)
- NCHFP: Salts Used in Pickling
- King Arthur Baking: Ingredient Weight Chart (salt by volume)
- NCHFP: General Information on Fermenting
NCHFP gives the fermented dill pickle quantities and the do-not-cut-back rule; King Arthur Baking gives salt weights per tablespoon. The percentages are arithmetic on those figures. One mL of water is taken as 1 g. Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored.
Scope
Percentages here are arithmetic, not a food-safety validation of any recipe. Food safety guidance, not professional advice. If you are pregnant, immunocompromised, elderly or cooking for young children, follow the stricter advice of your health professional.