Brine Calculator
Calculate salt and sugar for a wet or dry brine and the time needed.
About Brine Calculator
Wet brines calculate salt against water while dry brines calculate against meat weight, which is why the percentages are not interchangeable. Equilibrium brining sets salt against total mass so extended time cannot over-salt. Dry brining is now generally preferred because it seasons as effectively without diluting flavour or making the surface too wet to brown.
Formula
Brine
Wet brine salt = water weight × strength; dry brine salt = meat weight × strength
- equilibrium brine
- Salt calculated on total mass so the meat cannot over-salt
- dry brine
- Salt applied directly, drawing out then reabsorbing moisture
Worked example
With the default values below, Brine Calculator returns Salt Required of 150.0. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Meat weightminimum 1 g
- 2,000 g
- Water volume for a wet brineminimum 0 mL
- 3,000 mL
- Brine salt strengthaccepts 0.1–20 %
- 5 %
- Sugar as a share of saltaccepts 0–200 %
- 50 %
- Brine typeone of Wet brine, Dry brine
- Wet brine
Results
- Salt Required
- 150.0 g
- Sugar Required
- 75.0 g
- Recommended Brining Time
- 7.56 h
- Total Brine Weight
- 3,225.0 g
- Final Salt Concentration in the Meat
- 3.000%
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Brine
- 3Salt Required= 150.0 g
- 4Sugar Required= 75.0 g
- 5Recommended Brining Time= 7.56 h
- 6Total Brine Weight= 3,225.0 g
- 7Final Salt Concentration in the Meat= 3.000
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 3 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Brine calculated?
Wet brine salt = water weight × strength; dry brine salt = meat weight × strength Wet brines calculate salt against water while dry brines calculate against meat weight, which is why the percentages are not interchangeable. Equilibrium brining sets salt against total mass so extended time cannot over-salt.
Why does Brine matter?
Dry brining is now generally preferred because it seasons as effectively without diluting flavour or making the surface too wet to brown.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Meat weight, Water volume for a wet brine, Brine salt strength, Sugar as a share of salt, Brine type. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.