Salometer - puzzling label

[Tatoosh]

I purchased a Salometer from Allied Kenco so that I could do a better wet cure ham. I was surprised when it arrived. It was labeled as "Per Cent Scale For Salt or Brine 60F" and runs 0 to 100. So I take it I should treat those as the degrees discussed on this website in various places, not actual salt percentage in the brine?

I tried to upload a scan of the Salometer, made in Taiwan, so that you could see the piece of equipment, even if the actual label is not legible. However I get an error message: You must provide a valid auth token or dev key. see http://code.google.com/p/imageshackapi/

An image from my photo hosting account:

Tatoosh - Baguio City, Philippines

[el Ducko]

Most likely that is percent of saturated salt solution. To convert to percent salinity or one of several useful scales, you'll need to refer to a table. If you have one of the Marianski books, you can look there. Otherwise, there are numerous copies of this type of table on the internet.

Here's one: http://www.alkar.com/download/pdf/Sodiu ... %2060F.pdf and there are plenty of others.

...and don't forget to browse the topic on this forum. (Use the "search" function.) Welcome aboard.

[Butterbean]

I have one with a similar scale. What you can do is take a quart of water and add 6.3 oz of salt to this.(1.567 lbs salt to a gal) This should give you a 60 degree brine at 60F but your scale will read 70%. So your reading is inflated by 10.

Not sure if this is a straightline relationship or not but you can test a few and see.

For a 50 brine you want 1.266 lbs of salt gal
a 40 brine you want .983 lbs salt to gal

[Chuckwagon]

See brining chart at this link: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-ma ... king-brine

[ssorllih]

The scale is percentage of saturation. Pure water is zero and 2.647? pounds of salt per gallon of water is saturation . therefore 0-100 on the scale.

[ssorllih]

I have one with a similar scale. What you can do is take a quart of water and add 6.3 oz of salt to this.(1.567 lbs salt to a gal) This should give you a 60 degree brine at 60F but your scale will read 70%. So your reading is inflated by 10.

Not sure if this is a straightline relationship or not but you can test a few and see.

For a 50 brine you want 1.266 lbs of salt gal
a 40 brine you want .983 lbs salt to gal

2.647x.50=1.323 pounds of salt per gallon of water
40°brine =.4x2.647=1.059 pounds of salt per gallon

[el Ducko]

See brining chart at this link: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-ma ... king-brine

I just KNEW that dang chart was around here somewhere.(...rummages in closet. ...throws out old shoes, old jokes...) AHA!

[Baconologist]

Without being specific and getting in trouble for criticizing, because, I guess, some folks are extremely sensitive.

It's important to not confuse pounds of salt per gallon of water with pounds of salt per gallon of brine.

Good luck!

[Tatoosh]

Thanks for the insight and sharing your expertise. I did find the brine page earlier, but was uncertain what my bit of kit was scaled in. I will give it a couple of tests so I can use it with more certainty. I look forward to doing a wet brine ham. We only have sea salt available here, unless we use the commercial salt with iodine. No kosher salt in my corner of the Philippines.

[Butterbean]

I have one with a similar scale. What you can do is take a quart of water and add 6.3 oz of salt to this.(1.567 lbs salt to a gal) This should give you a 60 degree brine at 60F but your scale will read 70%. So your reading is inflated by 10.

Not sure if this is a straightline relationship or not but you can test a few and see.

For a 50 brine you want 1.266 lbs of salt gal
a 40 brine you want .983 lbs salt to gal

2.647x.50=1.323 pounds of salt per gallon of water
40°brine =.4x2.647=1.059 pounds of salt per gallon

Ssorlith, that is a handy way of doing it but you mean % don't you?

So a 40% would be 1.059 lbs and a 40 degree would be .983
a 50% would be 1.323 lbs and a 50 degree would be 1.266 lbs of salt.

Looks like the more salt you add the further these two instruments vary - or am I missing something?

[ssorllih]

As Bob pointed out there is a difference between a gallon of brine and a gallon of pure water to which you add salt. I think that I got it right but in the table it shows the amount of saly added to a gallon of water to make a given strength brine.
I based my statement on the amount of salt that a gallon of pure water could desolve that being 100° and 2.647 pounds of salt that is 100 % of the salt that can be desolved in a gallon of water. So 50% of 2.647 pounds of salt will make a 50° brine when desolved in one gallon of water. I think that a one gallon container will over flow if you add 2.6 pounds of salt to one gallon of water.

[Butterbean]

Ok, I see what you are saying now. I've been doing it wrong. To get it exact I need to also weigh the water. I hate brain flatulance.

So if this was done then degrees and percents should read the same?

[ssorllih]

The way it really comes down is if you need a quart of 50° brine you start with a quart of water and add 50% of ¼ of 2.647 pounds of salt or .33 pounds of salt say 5 .5 ounces. stir it until all of the salt desolves and use as much as you need and dump the rest.

[Butterbean]

What's got me puzzled is why if I measure out the water and the salt to yield a 60 degree brine and have the water at a temp of sixty then why is the % salt reading 70% rather than 60 if these two figures are equal.

I was thinking I might try it again and see what happens when I use weight measurements off the chart for the water and the salt and see what this does. Not that it really makes that much difference but its just got me puzzled. Heck, my salometer could be off just like a thermometer.

[Baconologist]

Distilled water should be used.

Some other points to consider.

"1. Temperature of the brine should be the same as specified in the brine table being
used. A 60°F Salometer will not give a correct reading at 38°F and vice versa.

2. Brine should be tested only in a straight walled cylinder of clear glass, set solidly
on a level surface. Any moisture that collects on the outside of the cylinder should
be wiped off.

3. Make sure that the Salometer stem is dry, clean, and free from grease, or caked
salt crystals, and that the Salometer does not touch the sides of the cylinder when
readings are taken.

4. Check new Salometers by placing them first in clear water, when the reading
should be 0°S at 60°F. Empty the cylinder, rinse with a saturated salt solution, then
refill with saturated brine at 60°F. Salometer should read 100°S.

5. Care must be taken to read the scale marking at the actual surface of the brine
when the Salometer has come to rest. This brine surface is not level, as brine
tends to rise along the sides of the cylinder and along the stem of the Salometer,
forming a concave surface known as a meniscus. For a correct reading, bring the
eye to a point level with the bottom of the meniscus."

Source: alkar.com

Calculations:

Since saturated brine contains 26.395% salt by
weight, each Salometer degree represents 0.26395% salt.

A 40 degree SAL brine is 10.558% salt by weight (40 x .26935.)
100-10.558=89.442
8.33/89.442=0.09313298003
0.09313298003x10.558=0.98329800317
0.983 pounds of salt per gallon of water for a 40% SAL brine.

A 50 degree SAL brine is 13.1975% salt by weight (50 x .26935)
100-13.1975=86.8025
8.33/86.8025=0.09596497796
0.09596497796x13.1975=1.26649779672
1.266 pounds of salt per gallon of water for a 50% SAL brine.

You`ll notice that the above numbers correspond with the numbers on the brine chart.
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... king-brine..