Sources & methods
Every number in these calculators comes from somewhere you can check. We use primary sources first — regulations, government food-safety guidance, university extension publications and published, tested recipes — and we store recipes as their source's own weights, so the results trace straight back.
Where no tested figure exists, we say so and leave the field for your recipe rather than invent one. Links are checked automatically every month, and each source shows when we last confirmed it says what we use.
Government guidance and data
Poultry: Basting, Brining, and Marinating
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Poultry brine: ¾ cup salt per gallon of water (about 5.7% by weight with table salt)
- Dry brine: 1 tablespoon of kosher salt for every 5 pounds of poultry
- Brine covered in the refrigerator; marinate up to 2 days
Used by: Meat & poultry brine
Verified September 27, 2026 · Archived copy
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
- Refrigerators at 40 °F (4 °C) or below
Used by: Meat & poultry brine
Verified September 27, 2026 · Archived copy
Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat (FDC 171265)
USDA FoodData Central
- Whole milk is 88.13% water — counted in a dough's hydration
Used by: Baker's percentage
Verified September 26, 2026
Egg, whole, raw, fresh (FDC 171287)
USDA FoodData Central
- Whole egg is 76.15% water — counted in a dough's hydration
Used by: Baker's percentage, Fresh pasta
Verified September 26, 2026
Butter, without salt (FDC 173430)
USDA FoodData Central
- Unsalted butter is 16.17% water — counted in a dough's hydration
Used by: Baker's percentage
Verified September 26, 2026
Egg, yolk, raw, fresh (FDC 172184)
USDA FoodData Central
- Egg yolk is 52.31% water — counted in a pasta dough's hydration
Used by: Fresh pasta
Verified September 29, 2026
University extension
Olives: Safe Methods for Home Pickling (Publication 8267; S. Yada & L. J. Harris, 2007)
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
- Tested brines by weight per gallon of water: 8 oz, 10 oz and 1 lb of salt
- Dry-salt curing: 1 lb salt per 2 lb olives; storage: 1 lb per 10 lb cured olives
- Cured olives are low-acid: can them only in a pressure canner
Used by: Olive brine
Verified September 27, 2026 · We keep a saved copy
Keys to Managing Your Salt Brine (D. Sommer)
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Center for Dairy Research
- Cheese salting brines are 21–23% salt (w/w); below 16% invites microbial problems; about 26% is saturated
- Keep the brine near the cheese's pH, at 50–55 °F (10–13 °C), and clean
Used by: Cheese brine
Verified September 27, 2026 · Archived copy · We keep a saved copy
How to Make a Safe Hot Sauce (2023)
South Dakota State University Extension
- A hot sauce's pH must be below 4.6 — add an acid such as vinegar, and test it
Used by: Hot sauce
Verified September 28, 2026
Ask Extension: USDA-approved fermented hot sauce recipe?
Oregon State University Extension Service
- There is no USDA- or NCHFP-tested fermented hot sauce recipe; record each batch and test its pH
Used by: Hot sauce
Verified September 28, 2026
Traditional Preserved Lemons (from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)
Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center
- 10 lemons and ½ cup pickling salt; 2 weeks cool and dark, shaken daily; then refrigerated up to 6 months
- Use dried spices or herbs only — fresh ones can change the pH
Used by: Preserved lemons
Verified September 28, 2026
Research and reference
McMahon, Motawee & McManus — Journal of Dairy Science 92:4169–79 (2009)
- Feta was stored in 6.5–9.5% brines in the study (the storage-brine hint)
Used by: Cheese brine
Verified September 27, 2026
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
CRC Press
- Salt dissolves to 36.0 g per 100 g of water at 25 °C — the most a brine can hold
Used by: Fermentation salt, Meat & poultry brine, Olive brine, Cheese brine, Hot sauce
Verified September 25, 2026 · Print source
Standards
International Regulations (Disciplinare), 2024
Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN)
- Per litre of water: flour 1,600–1,800 g, salt 40–60 g, fresh yeast 0.1–3 g (§2.1.2)
- Dry yeast is a third of fresh (§2.1.2)
- Dough balls of 200–280 g for 22–35 cm pizzas (§2.1.4)
Used by: Baker's percentage, Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy · We keep a saved copy
Manufacturers
Morton Coarse Kosher Salt — nutrition facts
Morton Salt
- ¼ tsp = 1.2 g — about 4.8 g per teaspoon (salt volume estimates)
Used by: Fermentation salt, Meat & poultry brine, Olive brine, Cheese brine, Hot sauce, Preserved lemons
Verified September 25, 2026
Morton Iodized Table Salt — nutrition facts
Morton Salt
- ¼ tsp = 1.5 g — about 6 g per teaspoon (salt volume estimates)
Used by: Fermentation salt, Meat & poultry brine, Olive brine, Cheese brine, Hot sauce, Preserved lemons
Verified September 25, 2026 · Archived copy
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt — package label
Diamond Crystal (Cargill)
- ¼ tsp = 0.7 g — about 2.8 g per teaspoon (salt volume estimates)
Used by: Fermentation salt, Meat & poultry brine, Olive brine, Cheese brine, Hot sauce, Preserved lemons
Verified September 25, 2026 · Print source
Red Star Yeast
- Active dry and instant yeast can be swapped one for one
Used by: Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy
Recipes and baking references
King Arthur Baking
- Large egg 50 g; large yolk 14 g
- Table salt 1 Tbsp = 18 g; instant yeast 1 Tbsp = 9 g; olive oil ¼ cup = 50 g — for recipes given in spoons
Used by: Pizza dough, Fresh pasta
Verified September 29, 2026 · Archived copy
Preferment (professional reference)
King Arthur Baking
- A poolish is equal weights of flour and water (100% hydration)
- Biga yeast can be as little as 0.1% of its flour
Used by: Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy
French Bread with Poolish (professional formula)
King Arthur Baking
- French bread preset (total formula)
- Poolish at 100% hydration with 0.2% yeast, fermenting 33% of the flour
Used by: Baker's percentage, Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy
Sourdough Baguettes (professional formula)
King Arthur Baking
- Sourdough baguette preset (total formula)
Used by: Baker's percentage
Verified September 28, 2026
Brioche (professional formula)
King Arthur Baking
- Brioche preset
Used by: Baker's percentage
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy
King Arthur Baking
- Bread flour 360 g, water 206 g, salt 12 g, sugar 12 g, oil 12 g, ¼ tsp instant yeast — two 13-inch pizzas
Used by: Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy
King Arthur Baking
- Bread flour 360 g, water 270 g, salt 9 g, instant yeast 3 g, olive oil 15 g — one 13 × 9 in pan
Used by: Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026
King Arthur Baking
- 280 g all-purpose flour, 3 large eggs, ½ tsp salt — 4 to 5 servings
Used by: Fresh pasta
Verified September 29, 2026 · Archived copy
King Arthur Baking
- 341 g durum + 113 g pastry flour, 4 large eggs, 1 tsp salt — about 6 servings
Used by: Fresh pasta
Verified September 29, 2026 · Archived copy
America's Test Kitchen
- 12 oz water to 14⅔ oz flour (about 82%); oil, yeast and salt given by the spoon
Used by: Pizza dough
Verified September 28, 2026 · Archived copy
America's Test Kitchen
- 326 g fine semolina, ⅔ cup water, 1 tsp salt — about 1 lb
Used by: Fresh pasta
Verified September 29, 2026 · Archived copy