I use this calculator for Poultry and Pork every time I wet brine.
I made it because no other calculators use US Cups and Tablespoons (reasons explained below).
For anything that’s a decimal you’d use 1/2 tbsp to get close.
Examples:
- 10.3 = 10 tbsp + a little less than a half tbsp.
- 10.8 = 10 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp + a little less than a 1/2 tbsp.
- 9.5 = 9 tbsp + 1/2 tbsp.
Notes on this Calculator
Typical brine percentages for poultry and pork are 3-5%.
1 cup of water = 236 grams
Density of Salts*:
- Fine sea salt: 1.18 g/mL
- Regular Table Salt: 1.19 g/mL
- Morton’s Kosher salt: 1.07 g/mL
- Diamond crystal Kosher salt: 0.63 g/mL
*These values are found by ME by weighing my salts with a gram scale. If you have a salt you don’t see listed, weigh 1 tbsp with a gram scale and email me so I can add it!
REMEMBER: From a Flavor Perspective, Salt is Salt
There’s a lot of misinformation online telling people to only use Kosher salt to brine with but that’s total hogwash.
Unless it’s smoked or is dehydrated alongside something else, the type of salt you use to brine with doesn’t matter.
Salt is salt (chemically NaCl).
Meaning, use the cheap stuff, always.
BUT! The Reason Salt Can Matter is Because of DENSITY
Typically there’s 4 salts you’ll see used for brining:
- Regular table salt
- Morton’s Kosher Salt
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- Sea salt (fine and coarse salt)
All of these salts have different densities meaning when you go to measure it by VOLUME (tablespoon, teaspoon, cups, etc.) the amount of actual salt can vary.
This is why people who brine will give you measurements like grams (aka they measure by WEIGHT).
40g of “salt” – no matter the salt – is 40g of salt.
In Dylan’s Kitchen That’s Not Actionable Because I Rarely Take Out a Gram Scale
We’re also not equilibrium brining so accuracy of salt solution is less important.
We’re just salting Poultry or Pork overnight and then cooking it the next day.
Meaning, it is completely OK to round.
As an example
Say I wanted:
- 5% salt solution
- using table salt
- in 16 cups of water
The calculator tells me to use 10.6 tbsp of Salt.
In actuality it’s 189.25g of salt (0.05 * 3785 g) weighed with a gram scale.
BUT 10.6 tbsp of salt is 189.21 g (10.6 tbsp * 15 mL * 1.19 g/mL).
This margin of error of using 10 tbsp + ~1/2 tbsp of salt is totally fine.
