Cheese Brine Calculator

Salt by weight for cheese brines — salting brines for hard cheeses, and storage brines for cheeses like feta.

For gouda, parmesan, mozzarella and other brine-salted cheeses. The Center for Dairy Research gives 21–23% of the whole brine.

Salt % of

10% of the finished brine ≈ 111 g salt per litre of water. Common in olive and walnut recipes.

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≈ 299 g per L of water

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Beyond salt: keep the brine pH close to the cheese's pH, brine at about 50–55 °F (10–13 °C), and keep the brine clean — contaminants can include Listeria. — UW Center for Dairy Research

Salting brine for hard cheeses

Many cheeses — gouda, parmesan, mozzarella, Swiss, brick — are salted by floating them in a strong brine. The University of Wisconsin's Center for Dairy Research recommends salt at 21–23% of the brine by weight, just under saturation (about 26%). Below 16%, salt uptake slows and the brine gives less protection against microbes; much stronger, and the rind can case-harden.

For example, a 23% brine made with 2 L of water needs 597 g of salt.

% of the brine, not % of the water

Cheese brines are quoted as a share of the whole brine — salt ÷ (water + salt). That's why this page starts on “Total brine”. The same 23% brine is 29.9% if you measure salt against the water alone, so check which one your recipe means.

Storage brine

Cheeses like feta are kept in a much weaker brine. There's no official home figure; recipes vary, and one study stored feta in whey brines of 6.5%, 8% and 9.5% salt. Enter the strength your recipe gives.

More than salt

A good brine also matches the cheese's pH (a mismatch softens the rind or slows salting), sits at about 50–55 °F (10–13 °C), and is kept clean. Brine picks up whey, fat and microbes over time, so commercial makers filter or replace it.

Sources: University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Dairy Research, “Keys to Managing Your Salt Brine” (D. Sommer); McMahon et al., “Influence of brine concentration and temperature on composition, microstructure, and yield of feta cheese”, J Dairy Sci 2009;92:4169–79. Informational only — not professional advice.