Equilibrium Brine Calculator
Salt and sugar for an equilibrium brine from meat and water weights in g, kg, lb or oz and a target salinity, counting the meat as 72% water. How it works
Use the Equilibrium Brine Calculator
About the Equilibrium Brine Calculator
For 1,000 g of meat in 1,000 g of water, the Standard 2.1% equilibrium brine needs 36.1 g of salt, which leaves the meat near 1.5% salt by weight. The brine calculator uses salt = salinity × (water + 0.72 × meat), so it counts the meat as 72% water, and gives sugar as a percent of the meat and water together.
Salt for common weights at the four presets
| Meat | Water | Salt at 1.7% | Salt at 2.1% | Salt at 2.5% | Salt at 5% | Sugar at 1% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 1,000 g | 23.1 g | 28.6 g | 34.0 g | 68.0 g | 15.0 g |
| 1,000 g | 1,000 g | 29.2 g | 36.1 g | 43.0 g | 86.0 g | 20.0 g |
| 1,000 g | 2,000 g | 46.2 g | 57.1 g | 68.0 g | 136.0 g | 30.0 g |
| 1,500 g | 2,000 g | 52.4 g | 64.7 g | 77.0 g | 154.0 g | 35.0 g |
| 2,000 g | 3,000 g | 75.5 g | 93.2 g | 111.0 g | 222.0 g | 50.0 g |
| 5,000 g | 5,000 g | 146.2 g | 180.6 g | 215.0 g | 430.0 g | 100.0 g |
Salt = salinity × (water + 0.72 × meat). The 1.7%, 2.1% and 2.5% columns are the equilibrium presets (meat near 1.2%, 1.5% and 1.8% salt); the 5% column is the time-limited Quick wet brine, which is not an equilibrium brine. Sugar is the optional Add sugar field at its 1% default, taken on meat plus water. The weights are examples.
How to use this tool
- Pick the weight unit (grams, kilograms, pounds or ounces), then weigh the meat and the water and type both in.
- Pick a target salinity: Light 1.7%, Standard 2.1% or Strong 2.5% for an equilibrium brine, or Quick wet brine 5% for a time-limited one, or type your own from 0 to 100. The line under the presets says what the choice means.
- Tick Add Sugar if you want it and set its percent. Read the salt (and sugar) to dissolve: in grams, or in ounces with the grams beside them when you weigh in pounds or ounces.
Frequently asked questions
- How much salt do I need for a 3% brine?
- For 1,000 g of meat in 1,000 g of water it is 51.6 g as an equilibrium brine here (type 3, since it is no longer a preset; it leaves about 2.2% salt in the meat, above the 1.2% to 1.8% the presets aim for). In general it is 3% of the water plus 0.72 times the meat: 1,500 g of meat in 2,000 g of water needs 92.4 g. A recipe that means 3% of the water alone wants 30 g per 1,000 g of water instead.
- Why does my recipe call for a different amount of salt?
- This tool takes the percent against the water plus the meat’s water, 1,720 g in the example, which gives 51.6 g. A recipe that takes 3% of the meat and water together (2,000 g) would call for 60 g, and one that takes 3% of the water alone 30 g. Check which basis the recipe uses before you compare numbers.
- How salty will the meat end up?
- Once the brine has evened out, the meat’s own water holds the target salinity, so the meat carries about 0.72 times that percent of its weight in salt: 1.22% at the Light 1.7% preset, 1.51% at Standard 2.1% and 1.8% at Strong 2.5%. One equilibrium-brining guide (Destination BBQ) suggests 1.2% to 1.8%, with 1.5% as a starting point, and the three equilibrium presets are set to land in that range. A typed 3% would leave 2.16% in the meat, and the 5% Quick wet brine would reach 3.6% if left to even out, which is why it is for timed brining only: a regular wet brine keeps pushing salt into the meat and over-salts if left too long, so take the meat out at the time your recipe gives (salt moves slowly through meat, so thick cuts need hours) and keep it refrigerated; the tool does not calculate that time. That guide measures its percent against meat and water together, so its grams differ from this tool’s: for 1,000 g of each, 1.5% on its basis is about 30.5 g of salt, against 36.1 g for Standard 2.1% here.
- What is an equilibrium brine?
- It is a brine sized so that, as salt and water even out between the pot and the meat, the salt level in the meat approaches your target concentration. The calculator models only that end state: time, temperature and surface drying are not part of it.
- Where does the 72% water figure come from?
- It is the tool’s assumption for lean muscle, and this page does not cite a source for it. The result is not very sensitive to it: if your cut is 75% water instead, a 3% brine needs only 0.9 g more salt per kilogram of meat (0.03 × 0.03 × 1,000 g).
- How much sugar does the calculator add?
- Sugar is a percent of the meat and water together, 1% by default. For 1,000 g of meat and 1,000 g of water that is 20 g, and for 2,000 g of meat and 3,000 g of water it is 50 g.
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