Sizu Riatto
Vegan Pantry Math · Chapter 3

Salt, Brine and Balance

Salt hides in the sauce. Turn sodium back into salt and every marinade and brine becomes one percent you can compare.

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Opens on the book's Stall Batch. Change any number to your own and press Calculate.

A. The salt in a marinade (the Stall Batch's, to start)

B. Make a brine (optional)

C. Dilute a brine (optional)

Enter the marinade and press Calculate.

The formula

  • Salt equivalent = sodium (mg) ÷ 1000 ÷ 0.3934 (salt is 39.3 % sodium by weight)
  • Salt % of the marinade = (tamari's salt equivalent + the rub's salt + any plain salt) ÷ the marinade × 100
  • Immersion brine: salt = water × % ÷ 100. True strength = salt ÷ (salt + water). Equilibrium: salt = (food + water) × %
  • Dilution: C1 × W1 = C2 × W2, so water to add = brine × (C1 ÷ C2 − 1). Seawater is about 3.5 %, for scale
The book's worked example, Chapter 3. The Stall Batch marinade: 349.4 g of tamari at 55.86 mg a gram carries 19,515 mg of sodium, the salt of 49.6 g. The 43.7 g of House Rub adds 6.55 g of real salt (15 %). That is about 56.2 g of salt in 873.4 g: about 6.4 %.
Check it. Run it backwards: the salt-equivalent ÷ the marinade × 100 gives the percent, and the percent × the marinade gives the salt back.

Honest limits. Sodium figures are FDC averages: your bottle's label rules, and low-sodium tamari changes everything. Raw tofu in a brine or marinade stays in the fridge, at 41 °F (5 °C) or below as the FDA Food Code treats such foods. An equilibrium brine evens the salt out over time; it is a seasoning method, not a preservation step. Prices are illustrative US prices from October 2026, shown without a currency sign; put in your own. Everything stays in your browser: no sign-up, nothing stored.

These calculators go with Vegan Pantry Math (Craft & Studio, Book 3), where every number on this page is worked by hand.