Equilibrium brine calculator
Equilibrium brining: salt as a share of water and vegetables together, the Noma method at 2%.
Salt as a percentage of water + vegetables, the final salinity of the whole batch (the Noma method: 2%, never less).
Equilibrium brining takes the salt from the combined weight of water and vegetables, so the final salinity of the whole batch is the one you planned. The Noma Guide to Fermentation sets it at 2% and never lower.
How it works
How it is computed
Target percentage × (water + vegetables) = salt. At 2% with 1 kg of vegetables and 1 l of water that is 40 g. Over a few days the salt spreads evenly between brine and vegetables, which is where the name comes from. The Noma Guide’s instruction, as Ethan Chlebowski reproduces it from page 62: cover the vegetables with water, weigh the lot, take 2% of that weight in salt and weigh it exactly, because you may go above 2% but not below.
When to choose it
When you want the same taste from every jar whatever the ratio of water to vegetables in it. Mashes are salted the same way, hot sauce included: the Serious Eats guide to fermented hot sauce puts the sweet spot for pepper ferments between 2% and 4%.
Ranges
Around 2% is enough for most vegetable ferments, in Serious Eats’ words as in Noma’s. Peppers for hot sauce: 2–4%, the higher end for warm rooms and ferments longer than four weeks; Mara Jane King, quoted there, goes to about 5% for a sauce meant to sit on a shelf for a year or two. Less salt ferments faster and suits a cool room but risks spoilage and softness. More salt slows the ferment, keeps it crisper and is the safer choice in the heat.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- René Redzepi & David Zilber, “The Noma Guide to Fermentation” — lacto-fermented pickles (p. 62) (read via Ethan Chlebowski) — The method and the 2% the page opens on: water to cover, weigh water and vegetables together, 2% of that weight in salt, weighed exactly, because above 2% is allowed and below it is not; Noma ferments at 28 °C, taste from day two or three.
- Noma Projects — “Lacto-Fermentation: noma’s Not So Secret Ingredient” (an excerpt from the Guide) — Noma’s own excerpt of the book: “Weigh your ingredient, add 2% salt by weight, and wait.”
- Serious Eats — The Science of Lactic Acid Fermentation, Tim Chin — Around 2% is enough for most applications, up to 10% in industry; less salt ferments faster but risks spoilage and softness, more salt slows it down and keeps it crisp. Room temperature 10–21 °C.
- Serious Eats — How to Make Fermented Hot Sauce, Tim Chin — The pepper band: a sweet spot between 2% and 4%, higher in warm rooms and past four weeks, about 5% (Mara Jane King) for a sauce meant to keep a year or two; mould is likelier above 21 °C.
FAQ
How is this different from a simple brine?
A simple brine takes the percentage of the water only, so the salinity of the finished pickle depends on how many vegetables went into the jar. Equilibrium counts water and vegetables together, and the result no longer depends on packing.
Do I have to weigh the vegetables?
Yes. Weigh them washed and trimmed, then the water you pour over them, or put the jar on the scale and add both. The Noma Guide’s method is exactly that: water to cover, then 2% of what the scale shows.
What percentage for hot sauce?
Serious Eats gives 2–4% for most pepper ferments: faster at the low end, safer at the top when the room is warm or the ferment runs past four weeks. For a sauce meant to keep for a year or two Mara Jane King suggests about 5%.
How warm should it stand?
Room temperature, 10–21 °C at Serious Eats, which also warns that mould shows up more readily above 21 °C. Noma ferments warmer, at 28 °C, and the fridge works too, only much more slowly. Start tasting after two or three days.
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