How much salt per quart of water for brine?

A US quart of water weighs 946 g. For a 2% brine (by water weight) use 19 g of salt, 3% = 28 g, 3.5% = 33 g and 5% = 47 g. In spoons, 19 g is about 1 Tbsp of fine pickling or table salt, 1⅓ Tbsp of Morton coarse kosher or 2¼ Tbsp of Diamond Crystal kosher. NCHFP's sauerkraut cover brine is 1½ Tbsp of canning salt per quart of water, about 27 g or 2.9%.

What salt percentage should I use for fermenting?

Follow a tested recipe for the specific food. NCHFP's sauerkraut uses 3 Tbsp of canning salt per 5 lb of cabbage (about 2.4% of the cabbage weight), and its fermented dill pickles use ½ cup of salt, ¼ cup of 5% vinegar and 8 cups of water per gallon of cucumbers (about 7% of the liquid with fine salt). NCHFP warns not to make sauerkraut or fermented pickles with less salt than the recipe requires.

Is brine percentage by weight of water or total brine?

Both are used. "% of water" means 20 g of salt per 1,000 g of water for 2%. "% of total brine" means salt ÷ (water + salt), so 2% needs 20.4 g per 1,000 g of water. The difference is small at low percentages and grows with stronger brines; pick the basis your recipe uses.

Can I use table salt or kosher salt instead of pickling salt?

By weight, yes: the sodium chloride is the same. By volume, no: a tablespoon of Diamond Crystal kosher weighs less than half as much as a tablespoon of fine salt. NCHFP recommends canning or pickling salt because the anti-caking agents in other salts can cloud the brine, and flake salts vary in density.

What vinegar should I use for pickling?

NCHFP recommends white distilled or cider vinegar of 5% acidity (50 grain) and says not to use vinegar of unknown acidity. Homemade vinegar and some specialty vinegars are weaker. In a tested canning recipe the amount of vinegar is part of the safety design, so do not dilute or reduce it.

Can I use this calculator for water-bath canning?

Not to design or change a canned-pickle recipe. NCHFP says to use only recipes with tested proportions and not to alter vinegar, food or water proportions, because a minimum uniform acid level is needed to prevent botulism. Use this tool for refrigerator pickles and fermentation brine arithmetic, and follow a complete USDA/NCHFP recipe for anything stored at room temperature.

Pickling Brine Ratio Calculator

A 2% brine is 19 g of salt per US quart of water (about 1 Tbsp fine pickling or table salt, 1⅓ Tbsp Morton kosher or 2¼ Tbsp Diamond Crystal); 3.5% is 33 g per quart. Weigh salt when you can. For canned (shelf-stable) pickles use a tested USDA/NCHFP recipe and 5% acidity vinegar without changing the proportions.

Brine Inputs

Total liquid volume

Salt percentage (%)

Salt for spoon measures

Approximate; weigh salt for repeatable results. NCHFP recommends canning or pickling salt (no anti-caking agents).

Vinegar portion of liquid (%)

Vinegar acidity (% acetic acid, from the label)

Sugar (% of salt weight)

Not a canning-safety calculator (per NCHFP/USDA guidance). Do not use custom ratios to make shelf-stable pickles. Follow a complete research-tested USDA/NCHFP recipe with 5% acidity vinegar and do not change its vinegar, water or food proportions. Do not cut the salt in fermented pickles or sauerkraut.

Salt per quart and per liter of water by brine percentage

Percent of water weight (1 US quart = 946 g, 1 L = 1,000 g). Tablespoons per quart by salt type; weigh when you can.

Brine	g / quart	g / liter	Tbsp/qt Fine pickling/table	Tbsp/qt Morton kosher	Tbsp/qt Diamond Crystal
2%	18.9	20.0	1.05	1.31	2.25
2.5%	23.7	25.0	1.31	1.64	2.82
3%	28.4	30.0	1.58	1.97	3.38
3.5%	33.1	35.0	1.84	2.30	3.94
5%	47.3	50.0	2.63	3.29	5.63
7.5%	71.0	75.0	3.94	4.93	8.45
10%	94.6	100.0	5.26	6.57	11.27

NCHFP / USDA tested ratios

Quantities as published by the National Center for Home Food Preservation; the gram and percent columns are our conversions with fine canning salt at 6.0 g/tsp.

Recipe	Published ratio	Salt	≈ %
Fermented dill pickles (per gallon of container, about 4 lb cucumbers)	½ cup salt + ¼ cup 5% vinegar + 8 cups water	144 g	7.4% of liquid
Sauerkraut	3 Tbsp canning or pickling salt per 5 lb shredded cabbage	54 g	2.4% of cabbage
Sauerkraut cover brine (only if juice does not cover)	1½ Tbsp salt per quart of water, boiled and cooled	27 g	2.9% of water

Sources: NCHFP general information on fermenting · NCHFP dill pickles · NCHFP sauerkraut. NCHFP: ferment dill pickles at 70–75 °F for about 3–4 weeks (55–65 °F takes 5–6 weeks); above 80 °F they become too soft.

Worked examples

2 quarts of 3.5% fermentation brine. 2 × 946 g = 1,893 g of water × 0.035 = 66.2 g of salt: about 3.7 Tbsp fine salt, 4.6 Tbsp Morton kosher or 7.9 Tbsp Diamond Crystal.

Same brine as % of total weight. 1,893 × 3.5 ÷ 96.5 = 68.7 g of salt, 2.4 g more than on the water-weight basis.

Refrigerator pickles, 1 quart, half vinegar. 473 mL water + 473 mL of 5% vinegar gives a liquid with 2.5% acetic acid. Add 2% salt (18.9 g) and sugar to taste, and keep the jar refrigerated.

Summary

This calculator scales a pickling or fermentation brine: enter the liquid volume, salt percentage and optional vinegar and sugar, and it returns gram weights plus spoon measures for the salt you actually have. Salt crystals differ a lot by volume, so 1 tablespoon of fine pickling or table salt weighs about 18 g while Diamond Crystal kosher weighs about 8.4 g; the tool converts for each. You can define the percentage against the liquid weight or against the total brine weight, as fermentation recipes differ. Food-safety notes follow the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) and USDA guidance: use canning or pickling salt, vinegar of 5% acidity, do not reduce salt in fermented pickles or sauerkraut, and do not change vinegar, water or food proportions in a tested canning recipe.

How it works

Enter the total liquid volume (mL, L, cups, fl oz, pints, quarts or gallons) and the salt percentage from your recipe.
Choose the basis: % of liquid weight (salt = liquid g × % ÷ 100) or % of total brine weight (salt = liquid g × % ÷ (100 − %)).
Optionally set the vinegar share of the liquid and its acidity; the tool shows the acetic acid content of the mixed liquid.
Optionally set sugar as a percentage of the salt weight.
Pick your salt to get spoon measures: fine pickling, canning or table salt ≈ 6.0 g/tsp, Morton coarse kosher ≈ 4.8 g/tsp, Diamond Crystal kosher ≈ 2.8 g/tsp (from manufacturer ¼ tsp serving weights).

Use cases

Mixing a 2–5% brine for lacto-fermented cucumbers, peppers, carrots or kimchi.
Converting a recipe written for Diamond Crystal kosher salt to table or pickling salt.
Scaling a refrigerator-pickle brine to a pint, quart or gallon jar.
Checking how much salt per quart a percentage brine needs.
Checking the acetic acid content of a refrigerator-pickle brine.
Looking up the NCHFP fermented dill pickle and sauerkraut salt ratios.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-10-10 · Reviewed by Nham Vu