DPG46 Food and Culinary Professionals (FCP)

I know this group has many recipe experts who do nutrition analysis. Hoping someone has a rule-of-thumb (or something more scientific) when determining how much sodium to account for when brining poultry for a recipe? 

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Shelley Johnson
Longmont CO
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Agree Marilyn! I refer to Catherine and Cheryl's book for things like this all the time! It is an excellent resource. 

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Laura Ali
Upper St Clair PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2025 06:27 AM
From: Marilyn Howell
Subject: Recipe analysis question - sodium from brining

Shelly-a number of years ago, FCP had a workshop on recipe analysis and I bought the excellent book-Recipe Nutrient Analysis- by Catherine Powers and Cheryl Dolven. From that, my facility adopted the practice of a 2% absorption of brine in our products. Hope this is helpful to you. Marilyn. ps. I would strongly recommend the book-it is a wealth of information.

 

 

Marilyn K. Howell, RDN, LDN Nutrition Services Manager Nutrition
	.	+1 717-367-1121 ext. 33112  MHowell@masonicvillages.org One Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022 www.MasonicVillages.org
.

 

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Shelley, there are SO MANY variables to how much liquid brine something will absorb, but over the course of many years I have found that 20-25% of the sodium used in a meat or poultry brine will be taken up and integrated into the final dish. 

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Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND
Carmichael (Sacramento), California
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Hi Shelley,

Great question. It really depends on the time the poultry is being marinated, and much of the actual data is proprietary. I've struggled to find publicly available studies in PubMed/Google Scholar. My rule of thumb for most protein marinades is 15-16% across the board, assuming you're marinating for at least an hour under refrigeration. It may be less if you're brining for a shorter time, but you're still within the tolerances of nutrient reporting. Small caveat, I don't know if this rule applies as well with enhanced proteins.

America's Test Kitchen has some good data as well, but it's become paywalled. 

One imperfect but useful way to check how much marinade is used is to weigh/measure the amount of marinade going into the protein and how much is left after the protein is removed. It will give you a starting point for the other ingredients in the brine/marinade as well.

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Lesley Schatz
Apex NC
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Thank you! Great information
Amy Hughes


Original Message:
Sent: 7/11/2025 11:36:00 AM
From: Lesley Schatz
Subject: RE: Recipe analysis question - sodium from brining

Hi Shelley,

Great question. It really depends on the time the poultry is being marinated, and much of the actual data is proprietary. I've struggled to find publicly available studies in PubMed/Google Scholar. My rule of thumb for most protein marinades is 15-16% across the board, assuming you're marinating for at least an hour under refrigeration. It may be less if you're brining for a shorter time, but you're still within the tolerances of nutrient reporting. Small caveat, I don't know if this rule applies as well with enhanced proteins.

America's Test Kitchen has some good data as well, but it's become paywalled. 

One imperfect but useful way to check how much marinade is used is to weigh/measure the amount of marinade going into the protein and how much is left after the protein is removed. It will give you a starting point for the other ingredients in the brine/marinade as well.

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Lesley Schatz
Apex NC
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I believe I have seen an article in Cooks Illustrated that gives the percent sodium uptake with brining. I cannot find by browsing the ATK app. 
I do see this in the book, The Science of Good Cooking (from ATK), on page 103, "We found that brining adds about 1/8 teaspoon of salt per serving in pork or poultry."  This is based on food lab analysis (and I presume based on their brining formulas for the two types of meat). 

Marilyn Yon, MS, RD, LD

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Marilyn Yon
Cumming GA
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-11-2025 10:36 AM
From: Lesley Schatz
Subject: Recipe analysis question - sodium from brining

Hi Shelley,

Great question. It really depends on the time the poultry is being marinated, and much of the actual data is proprietary. I've struggled to find publicly available studies in PubMed/Google Scholar. My rule of thumb for most protein marinades is 15-16% across the board, assuming you're marinating for at least an hour under refrigeration. It may be less if you're brining for a shorter time, but you're still within the tolerances of nutrient reporting. Small caveat, I don't know if this rule applies as well with enhanced proteins.

America's Test Kitchen has some good data as well, but it's become paywalled. 

One imperfect but useful way to check how much marinade is used is to weigh/measure the amount of marinade going into the protein and how much is left after the protein is removed. It will give you a starting point for the other ingredients in the brine/marinade as well.

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Lesley Schatz
Apex NC
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Check out the resources at these links
from Genesis
https://genesisrdfoods.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4414375846797-How-do-I-account-for-salt-absorption-in-my-Recipe-when-using-salted-water-or-brin e
How Much Sodium Is In Brined Meats?
https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/all-about-brining/#howmuchsodium 
Meal Prepify Launches Free Brine Calculator to Simplify Fermentation and Curing
https://www.einpresswire.com/article/777573438/meal-prepify-launches-free-brine-calculator-to-simplify-fermentation-and-curing
Salt Brine Calculator
https://brinecalculator.com/ 
Background info on brining and calculator
"For example, a large turkey might be brined in a 6% solution for 24 hours. The salt concentration will run from 6% at the surface, to near zero a half inch below the surface (it could take a week for salt to diffuse all the way to the center of a thick brisket or turkey breast). The meat is then removed from the concentrated brine and cooked. The salt band moves rapidly inward, propelled by heat of cooking. Assuming the surface brined layer is a third of the total turkey volume, this second diffusion step averages out the salt level to around 2%." 
https://genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/saltbrinecalculator.html

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Lauren Swann
LS@FoodFactsWork.com
(267)288-8563
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