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Curing Salt Quantity Calculator

Work out curing salt quantity instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Curing Salt Quantity Calculator

The standard dose is 2.5 g of Prague powder per kilogram of meat, which at 6.25% sodium nitrite delivers about 156 ppm, the usual legal maximum for dry curing. Nitrite is measured in parts per million because the safe window is narrow: too little fails to inhibit clostridium, too much is toxic, so weighing rather than scooping is essential.

Formulas

Cure dose

curing salt grams = meat kg x 2.5

Nitrite level

ppm = cure grams x 0.0625 x 1,000,000 / meat grams

Worked example

With the default values below, Curing Salt Quantity Calculator returns Curing salt to use of 5.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Meat weightminimum 0.1 kg
2 kg
Curing saltone of Prague powder #1 (6.25% sodium nitrite), Prague powder #2 (6.25% nitrite + 4% nitrate)
Prague powder #1 (6.25% sodium nitrite)
Plain salt as % of meataccepts 0.5–5 %
2 %

Results

Curing salt to use
5.00 g
Nitrite in the meat
156 ppm
Plain salt to add
40.0 g
Total sodium chloride
44.7 g

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Cure dose
  3. 3Nitrite level
  4. 4Curing salt to use= 5.00 g
  5. 5Nitrite in the meat= 156 ppm
  6. 6Plain salt to add= 40.0 g
  7. 7Total sodium chloride= 44.7 g

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 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 2 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 the Curing Salt Quantity figure worked out?

curing salt grams = meat kg x 2.5. The standard dose is 2.5 g of Prague powder per kilogram of meat, which at 6.25% sodium nitrite delivers about 156 ppm, the usual legal maximum for dry curing.

Why does this matter?

Nitrite is measured in parts per million because the safe window is narrow: too little fails to inhibit clostridium, too much is toxic, so weighing rather than scooping is essential.

What do I need to enter?

Enter meat weight, curing salt, plain salt as % of meat. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.

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