{"success":true,"version":"v1","request":{"tool":"get_calculator_schema","calculator_id":"brine"},"result":{"entity_type":"calculator","id":"brine","calculator_id":"brine","canonical_url":"https://tttkmbb.com/food/brine","name":"Brine Calculator","title":"Brine Calculator – Salt and Sugar Grams for a Wet Brine by Percentage of Water","category":"food","category_name":"Food & Cooking","tool_name":"calculate_brine","featured_mcp_tool":false,"description":"Computes the grams of salt (and optional sugar) for a wet brine from the water volume and a percentage concentration expressed relative to the water weight (6 % = 60 g per litre).","use_when":"You are brining poultry, pork or vegetables and need the salt for a given amount of water at a target strength.","do_not_use_when":"You need a dry brine or an equilibrium brine based on the meat's weight (salt = 0.5–2 % of meat + water weight), or curing with nitrite salts, which follow different rules.","inputs":[{"name":"water_liters","label":"Water","type":"number","unit":"L","required":true,"max":1000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Volume of water in litres (1 L = 1 kg).","example":2},{"name":"salt_percent","label":"Salt concentration","type":"number","unit":"%","required":false,"default":6,"min":0.5,"max":30,"description":"Salt as a percentage of the water weight: 3–4 % mild (long brines), 5–6 % standard for poultry (4–12 h), 8–10 % quick brines (1–2 h).","example":6},{"name":"sugar_percent","label":"Sugar (optional)","type":"number","unit":"%","required":false,"default":0,"min":0,"max":30,"description":"Optional sugar as a percentage of the water weight (often half the salt).","example":3}],"outputs":[{"name":"salt_g","label":"Salt","type":"number","unit":"g","decimals":1,"description":"Salt to dissolve in the water."},{"name":"sugar_g","label":"Sugar","type":"number","unit":"g","decimals":1,"description":"Sugar to dissolve in the water."},{"name":"water_g","label":"Water","type":"number","unit":"g","decimals":0,"description":"Water weight."},{"name":"brine_total_g","label":"Total brine","type":"number","unit":"g","decimals":0,"description":"Water + salt + sugar."},{"name":"salt_percent_of_solution","label":"Salt (% of total solution)","type":"number","unit":"%","decimals":2,"description":"Salt as a percentage of the finished brine weight, the convention used in food science tables."}],"input_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"water_liters":{"description":"Volume of water in litres (1 L = 1 kg). Unit: L.","type":"number","maximum":1000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[2],"x-unit":"L"},"salt_percent":{"description":"Salt as a percentage of the water weight: 3–4 % mild (long brines), 5–6 % standard for poultry (4–12 h), 8–10 % quick brines (1–2 h). Unit: %.","type":"number","minimum":0.5,"maximum":30,"default":6,"examples":[6],"x-unit":"%"},"sugar_percent":{"description":"Optional sugar as a percentage of the water weight (often half the salt). Unit: %.","type":"number","minimum":0,"maximum":30,"default":0,"examples":[3],"x-unit":"%"}},"additionalProperties":false,"required":["water_liters"]},"output_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"salt_g":{"description":"Salt to dissolve in the water. Unit: g.","type":"number","x-unit":"g"},"sugar_g":{"description":"Sugar to dissolve in the water. Unit: g.","type":"number","x-unit":"g"},"water_g":{"description":"Water weight. Unit: g.","type":"number","x-unit":"g"},"brine_total_g":{"description":"Water + salt + sugar. Unit: g.","type":"number","x-unit":"g"},"salt_percent_of_solution":{"description":"Salt as a percentage of the finished brine weight, the convention used in food science tables. Unit: %.","type":"number","x-unit":"%"}}},"formula":"salt_g = water_liters × 1000 × salt_percent / 100; sugar_g = water_liters × 1000 × sugar_percent / 100; salt_percent_of_solution = 100 × salt_g / (water_g + salt_g + sugar_g)","method":"Percent of water weight (w/v) is the usual home-cooking convention; a 6 % brine is 60 g salt per litre, close to the USDA guideline of ¾ cup table salt per gallon (≈ 58 g/L). Sea water is about 3.5 %.","sources":[{"name":"USDA FSIS – Poultry: Basting, Brining, and Marinating (¾ cup salt per gallon of water; brine in the refrigerator)","url":"https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/poultry/poultry-basting-brining-and-marinating","type":"government","retrieved_at":"2026-09-23"},{"name":"Wikipedia – Brining","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brining","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-23"}],"freshness":{"type":"static","max_age_seconds":null,"note":"Deterministic formula with fixed constants; results never go stale. Inputs supplied by the caller determine the output."},"examples":[{"name":"2 L at 6 % salt, 3 % sugar","inputs":{"water_liters":2,"salt_percent":6,"sugar_percent":3},"expected":{"salt_g":120,"sugar_g":60,"water_g":2000,"brine_total_g":2180,"salt_percent_of_solution":5.5},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/brine?water_liters=2&salt_percent=6&sugar_percent=3"},{"name":"4 L at 3.5 % salt","inputs":{"water_liters":4,"salt_percent":3.5},"expected":{"salt_g":140,"sugar_g":0,"salt_percent_of_solution":3.38},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/brine?water_liters=4&salt_percent=3.5"}],"faq":[{"q":"How many tablespoons is that?","a":"It depends on the salt: table salt ≈ 18 g per tablespoon, Morton kosher ≈ 15 g, Diamond Crystal kosher ≈ 9 g. Weigh salt whenever possible."},{"q":"How long should I brine?","a":"At 5–6 %: whole chicken 4–12 h, turkey 12–24 h, pork chops 1–4 h, shrimp 30 min; always in the refrigerator. Rinse or reduce added salt afterwards."}],"tags":["brine calculator","salt brine ratio","turkey brine","chicken brine","percent brine"],"related":[{"calculator_id":"turkey-cooking-time","reason":"Roasting time for the brined turkey."},{"calculator_id":"cooking-converter","reason":"Convert gallons or quarts of water to litres."}],"links":{"html":"https://tttkmbb.com/food/brine","markdown":"https://tttkmbb.com/food/brine.md","json":"https://tttkmbb.com/food/brine.json","api":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/brine","schema":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/brine","openapi":"https://tttkmbb.com/openapi.json","mcp":"https://tttkmbb.com/mcp"},"version":"v1","updated_at":"2026-09-23"},"timestamp":"2026-09-23T23:30:56Z"}