Mixing Brine Solutions

For all recipes

Many recipes define a bringing solution by either the percent of salt to water or by degrees. How do you determine the ratio of salt to water for these mixtures? It’s easy – skip the math and go straight to the table below.

Brining Solutions
A	B	C	E
Salometer (degrees°)	Percent of Salt by Weight (%)	Salt per Gallon of Water (In Pounds)	Water per Gallon of Brine (in Pounds)
0°	0.000	0.000	8.328
1°	0.264	0.022	8.323
2°	0.526	0.044	8.317
3°	0.792	0.066	8.307
4°	1.056	0.089	8.298
5°	1.320	0.111	8.292
6°	1.584	0.134	8.286
7°	1.848	0.157	8.280
8°	2.112	0.180	8.274
9°	2.376	0.203	8.268
10°	2.640	0.226	8.262
11°	2.903	0.249	8.256
12°	3.167	0.272	8.250
13°	3.431	0.296	8.239
14°	3.695	0.320	8.229
15°	3.959	0.343	8.222
16°	4.223	0.367	8.216
17°	4.487	0.391	8.209
18°	4.751	0.415	8.202
19°	5.015	0.440	8.195
20°	5.279	0.464	8.188
21°	5.543	0.489	8.181
22°	5.807	0.513	8.174
23°	6.071	0.538	8.167
24°	6.335	0.563	8.159
25°	6.599	0.588	8.152
26°	6.863	0.614	8.144
27°	7.127	0.639	8.137
28°	7.391	0.665	8.129
29°	7.655	0.69	8.121
30°	7.919	0.716	8.113
31°	8.162	0.742	8.105
32°	8.446	0.768	8.097
33°	8.710	0.795	8.089
34°	8.974	0.821	8.081
35°	9.238	0.848	8.073
36°	9.502	0.874	8.064
37°	9.766	0.901	8.056
38°	10.030	0.928	8.047
39°	10.294	0.956	8.038
40°	10.558	0.983	8.030
41°	10.822	1.011	8.021
42°	11.086	1.038	8.012
43°	11.350	1.066	8.003
44	11.614	1.094	7.994
45°	11.878	1.123	7.985
46°	12.142	1.151	7.975
47°	12.406	1.179	7.966
48°	12.670	1.208	7.957
49°	12.934	1.237	7.947
50°	13.198	1.266	7.937
51°	13.461	1.295	7.928
52°	13.725	1.325	7.918
53°	13.989	1.355	7.908
54°	14.253	1.384	7.898
55°	14.517	1.414	7.888
56°	14.781	1.444	7.878
57°	15.045	1.475	7.867
58°	15.309	1.505	7.857
59°	15.573	1.536	7.847
60°	15.837	1.567	7.836
61°	16.101	1.598	7.826
62°	16.365	1.630	7.815
63°	16.629	1.661	7.804
64°	16.893	1.693	7.793
65°	17.157	1.725	7.782
66°	17.421	1.757	7.771
67°	17.685	1.789	7.764
68°	17.949	1.822	7.756
69°	18.213	1.854	7.744
70°	18.477	1.887	7.733
71°	18.740	1.921	7.721
72°	19.004	1.954	7.710
73°	19.268	1.988	7.698
74°	19.532	2.021	7.686
75°	19.796	2.056	7.678
76°	20.060	2.09	7.669
77°	20.324	2.124	7.657
78°	20.588	2.159	7.645
79°	20.852	2.194	7.633
80°	21.116	2.229	7.621
81°	21.380	2.265	7.608
82°	21.644	2.300	7.596
83°	21.908	2.336	7.586
84°	22.172	2.372	7.577
85°	22.436	2.409	7.584
86°	22.700	2.446	7.551
87°	22.964	2.482	7.542
88°	23.228	2.520	7.532
89°	23.492	2.557	7.519
90°	23.756	2.595	7.505
91°	24.019	2.633	7.492
92°	24.283	2.671	7.479
93°	24.547	2.709	7.468
94°	24.811	2.748	7.458
95	25.075	2.787	7.444
96°	25.339	2.826	7.430
97°	25.603	2.866	7.416
98°	25.867	2.908	7.409
99°	26.131	2.948	7.394
99.6°	26.289	2.970	7.385
100°	26.395	2.986	7.380

How to use this table:

If your recipe expresses the brine solution in degrees°:

Start with column A, find the temperature and read across for the weight of salt Column C and Weight of water Column E to be mixed.

If your recipe expresses the brine solution as a Percentage:

Start with column B, find the percentage and read across for the weight of salt Column C and Weight of water Column E to be mixed.

Keep in mind you never use iodized salt for a brine solution! Always use kosher salt, Sea salt, Flaked salt or Cheese salt for brines. You can also use pickling salt but keep in mind it is less dense than the others so you will get more salt per unit weight than the others listed.

When mixing a brine solution for cheese it is always best to use the whey drained from the actual cheese because it is at the same pH level as the cheese. If you did not save the whey use un-chlorinated water.

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