Salt Brine Percentage Calculator
Get the exact grams of salt for a brine at your chosen strength and water volume, with the amount in tablespoons too.
How it works
Salt (g) = water weight (g) × strength % ÷ 100, where 1 L water ≈ 1000 g
Brine strength is the salt weight as a percentage of the water weight, and since a litre of water weighs about a kilogram the math is simple. Quick brines for chicken or pork often run 5–8%, a long wet cure sits lower around 3–5%, and fermentation brines for pickles and sauerkraut usually land near 2–3%. Weighing salt matters because table, kosher and flaky salts have very different volumes per gram.
Worked example
For a 5% brine in 1 L of water: the water weighs 1,000 g, so salt = 1,000 × 5 ÷ 100 = 50 g, which is roughly 2.8 level tablespoons of table salt.
Frequently asked questions
What salt percentage should I brine at?
Short brines for poultry and pork are commonly 5–8% for a few hours; longer wet cures use a milder 3–5%; and vegetable fermentation typically uses 2–3%. Match the strength and time to what you are brining.
Why weigh salt instead of measuring by volume?
A tablespoon of fine table salt weighs almost twice as much as the same spoon of flaky salt, so measuring by volume can double or halve the actual saltiness. Weighing in grams removes that guesswork.
Does the salt type change the brine?
The dissolved salt behaves the same, but the volume you scoop does not. This calculator works in grams; the tablespoon figure assumes fine table salt, so adjust if you use kosher or flaky salt.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.