Brine question

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Brine question

Postby Ucmd on Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:12 pm

When making a 5% brine, is that mass of salt over volume or mass of salt over weigh of water plus veges.
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Re: Brine question

Postby Tibor on Mon Sep 18, 2017 11:29 pm

Brine strength is most often expressed as weight of salt as a percentage of weight of solution.Generally it's easier to use volumes to make brine not weights .To keep it simple -adding one TBS fine sea salt to a quart of water makes 1.8% brine .Adding 2 TBS makes 3.6% brine and adding 3 TBS salt makes 5.4% brine ect. Veggies don't count into the equation except to make sure you add enough brine solution to cover them when they are weighed down. I mostly work with 3.6% brine for my pickles, veggies and hot sauces.
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Re: Brine question

Postby Ucmd on Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:37 am

So we are talking mass on salt in grams per volume of water in ml. ?????? 5grams salt in 100 ml water is 5 %
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Re: Brine question

Postby Tibor on Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:44 am

Sorry, I'm not a gram guy. Sandor Katz translates it as 17 grams of salt (15 ml ) added to 1 liter of water gives you a 1.8 % brine.
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Re: Brine question

Postby Ucmd on Tue Sep 19, 2017 3:30 pm

It seems like 17 grams of water in 1000 ml would be 1.7 gr per 100 ml. Is this a 1.7% solution.
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Re: Brine question

Postby Pacecar on Tue Sep 19, 2017 4:34 pm

Here is a useful resource:
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... king-brine
Interpolating this chart, a 3.6% brine would be comprised of 0.311 lb salt added to one gallon of water.
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Re: Brine question

Postby Pacecar on Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:30 pm

At 60degF, a gallon of pure water weighs 8.338 lb.
If we add 0.3115 lb salt to the water, then the mixture (the brine solution) has a combined weight of [0.3115 + 8.338] = 8.6495 lb.
0.3115 divided by 8.6495 = 0.0360 [which is 3.6% by weight brine solution).
Keep in mind that the brine solution has a volume that is a little more than exactly one gallon (because the salt added some volume to the mixture).
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Re: Brine question

Postby Ucmd on Tue Sep 19, 2017 8:46 pm

Ok, % can refer to weight or volume of solvent. Is weight the most common convention?
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Re: Brine question

Postby Pacecar on Tue Sep 19, 2017 9:15 pm

Yes. Percent by weight is the most common convention. If the units of measure are not stated, then it is assumed that it is percent by weight.
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Re: Brine question

Postby Ucmd on Mon Dec 25, 2017 8:28 am

Ok, can someone help the idiot.

I am making kraut which I havre done many times, but I am trying to get a little more scientific. I had 5 kg of cabbage and i added 200 grams of salt and let it ferment a week. All looks good but I want to know what percentage my brine is at. It seems like it just depends on how much water is in the cabbage. I want to know so i can reproduce this if i like.

How to I control for brine salinity. Do people measure salinity to get more accurate with this stuff. When i taste the brine it does not taste salty enough to me.

HELP
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