Brine & Pickling Tools

Weigh the salt right,
every jar.

Start with the salt percentage that fits the vegetable, pick the salt actually in your cupboard, and get the gram weight before the jar comes out. The tools cover both lacto-fermentation and pickling brines.

Find my calculator → Browse all tools
Follow this order
01 Pick the salt percentage 02 Add vinegar (if pickling) 03 Match the salt type
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The workflow

Pick the brine problem you need to solve now

Brine looks simple — salt and water — until two recipes call for tablespoons of different salts and end up tasting nothing alike. The calculators here weigh in grams first and translate back to tablespoons in a way that actually survives a brand switch.

01

Pick the salt percentage

2% sauerkraut, 2.5% kimchi, 3% most veg, 3.5% cucumbers, 5% olives. Lock the grams.

Fermentation Brine Calculator Calculate the exact salt amount for any brine percentage and water volume. Covers 2%, 3%, and custom ratios for lacto-fermented vegetables. Open calculator →
02

Add vinegar (if pickling)

Traditional pickling brine adds vinegar by volume on top of the salt.

Pickling Brine Calculator Calculate vinegar, water, and salt ratios for any pickling jar size. Works for cucumber pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and more. Open calculator →
03

Match the salt type

Diamond Crystal kosher and fine sea salt are not the same by volume — the tool corrects for this.

Salt Brine Calculator Enter your target salt percentage and vessel volume — get the exact grams of salt to add. Works in metric and imperial. Open calculator →

What makes fermentation salt right?

Brine is one of the simplest things you can measure and one of the easiest to get wrong twice in a row. The salt percentage is the headline number, but the salt itself does most of the work people credit to luck. Diamond Crystal kosher salt is about half the density of fine sea salt by volume. That means three tablespoons of one and three tablespoons of the other are two completely different brines, even at the same nominal percentage.

That is why the calculator weighs in grams first and translates back to tablespoons with the salt density baked in. Pick the salt sitting on your counter, set the percentage for the vegetable, and the conversion travels intact when you switch salts later.

Troubleshoot

Common brine problems these tools solve

Mushy vegetables

Almost always too little salt. Push the percentage up and use a weighted ferment so the veg stays submerged.

Too salty

Usually salt-type confusion. Diamond Crystal kosher is half the volume of fine sea salt for the same gram weight.

White wrinkly film

That is kahm yeast, not mould. Harmless, but a sign of low salt or too much air. Skim and tighten the next batch.

Fuzzy coloured mould

Toss it. Usually exposed veg above the brine. Use a fermentation weight on the next batch.

No bubbles after five days

Salt too high or room too cold. Move somewhere warmer or drop the percentage by half a point.

Cloudy brine

Usually normal — lactobacillus cloud the brine as they work. If it smells and tastes right, keep going.

After the batch

Use the hub in this order

  1. 1

    First: use the fermentation brine calculator to lock the salt weight for the vegetable.

  2. 2

    Second: pick the salt type your cupboard actually has. The density column matters more than the percentage.

  3. 3

    Finally: if the batch went wrong, switch to diagnostic mode and pick the outcome you saw. Most failures are salt percentage or salt type.

Learn

Brine & Pickling guides

Kimchi explained: smell, gluten & probiotics Read guide → What to eat & pair with sauerkraut Read guide → Pickling brine ratios guide Read guide →

FAQ

Common brine & pickling questions

What salt percentage should I use for fermentation?

2% by cabbage weight for sauerkraut, 2.5% for kimchi, 3% for most water-brined vegetables like garlic and green beans, 3.5% for cucumbers and peppers, and 5% for olives. The calculator above handles the salt math once you pick the vegetable and batch size.

Should I use table salt or sea salt for fermenting?

Use non-iodised salt — iodine inhibits the lactobacillus that drive lacto-fermentation. Kosher salt, fine sea salt, and pickling salt all work. Avoid table salt with anti-caking agents and iodine.

Why is my sauerkraut mushy?

Almost always too little salt. The calculator targets 2% by cabbage weight as the standard ratio. Below 1.5%, the cabbage softens before the lactobacillus take over. Use a weighted ferment so the cabbage stays under the brine.

How long does brined fermentation take?

Sauerkraut and kimchi want one to three weeks at room temperature. Cucumber pickles want about a week. Olives can take six weeks or longer. The colder the room, the longer the ferment.

What is the difference between a fermentation brine and a pickling brine?

A fermentation brine is salt plus water — the lactobacillus do the souring over days or weeks. A traditional pickling brine adds vinegar and gets the sour fast through acidification. Both use this calculator for the salt portion; vinegar pickling adds vinegar by volume on top.

Can I use the same percentage for any vegetable?

You can, but the result varies. Cucumbers want more salt than sauerkraut because they sit in water rather than being shredded. Olives want still more. The reference table on the calculator page shows the per-vegetable ratios most home fermenters land on.

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