GIFSQ Tools · Module 08 — Meat, Poultry, Fish & Seafood · Tool 150 of 500
Make a curing brine: enter the water volume, the salt and sugar percentages and the target nitrite level to get the salt, sugar and nitrite to add.
Try sample values — fills the form with the worked example below.
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Salt (g)
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Sugar (g)
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Sodium nitrite (mg)
Equation: Salt (g) = water (L) × 10 × salt (% w/v), because 1% w/v is 10 g per litre. Sugar (g) = water (L) × 10 × sugar (% w/v). Brine mass (kg) is about water (kg) + salt (kg) + sugar (kg). Sodium nitrite (mg) = target nitrite (ppm) × brine mass (kg), because 1 ppm is 1 mg per kg.
Method: Curing brine by mass balance, with the Canadian nitrite limit in mind: sodium nitrite is capped at 200 ppm in the finished cured product for most cured meats under the Food and Drug Regulations — check the current regulation for the product before curing. For the full brine engine, including canning syrups and brines with full-strength and equilibrium calculations, use the GIFSQ specialist tool "Syrups and Brines for Canning" (gifsq.com post 30977); this catalogue tool covers the curing-brine calculation only.
Assumptions: percentages are weight per volume (% w/v); 1 L of water weighs 1 kg; the nitrite is added as pure sodium nitrite — if a cure mix is used instead, convert from the mix label; the brine is made up fresh and fully dissolved.
Limitations: the tool does not check the finished-product nitrite level, which depends on how much brine the meat takes up — that must be measured or calculated from the pickup; it does not cover dry curing, and it does not replace the current regulation or a validated curing schedule.
Rounding: salt and sugar to 1 decimal place; sodium nitrite to 1 decimal place; brine mass to 2 decimal places; intermediates unrounded.
This is a calculation aid, not a laboratory report — confirm against your accredited method before citing a value.
Method: Curing brine by mass balance, with the Canadian nitrite limit in mind: sodium nitrite is capped at 200 ppm in the finished cured product for most cured meats under the Food and Drug Regulations — check the current regulation for the product before curing. For the full brine engine, including canning syrups and brines with full-strength and equilibrium calculations, use the GIFSQ specialist tool "Syrups and Brines for Canning" (gifsq.com post 30977); this catalogue tool covers the curing-brine calculation only.
Assumptions: percentages are weight per volume (% w/v); 1 L of water weighs 1 kg; the nitrite is added as pure sodium nitrite — if a cure mix is used instead, convert from the mix label; the brine is made up fresh and fully dissolved.
Limitations: the tool does not check the finished-product nitrite level, which depends on how much brine the meat takes up — that must be measured or calculated from the pickup; it does not cover dry curing, and it does not replace the current regulation or a validated curing schedule.
Rounding: salt and sugar to 1 decimal place; sodium nitrite to 1 decimal place; brine mass to 2 decimal places; intermediates unrounded.
This is a calculation aid, not a laboratory report — confirm against your accredited method before citing a value.
Worked example: Water 10 L, salt 15% w/v, sugar 5% w/v, target nitrite 150 ppm. Salt = 10 × 10 × 15 = 1500.0 g; sugar = 10 × 10 × 5 = 500.0 g; brine mass about 12.00 kg; sodium nitrite = 150 × 12 = 1800.0 mg.
Enter values above to see results.
Canadian limit: sodium nitrite up to 200 ppm in the finished cured product for most cured meats. Never exceed the limit for the product. Tool 150 of 500 — GIFSQ
