Enter your vegetable weight and desired salt percentage to find out exactly how much salt to use for your kimchi. The Kimchi Salt Calculator also lets you choose between dry salting and brine salting methods, so you get the right amount every time — no guesswork, no ruined batches.
Salt Needed
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Salt Needed (Teaspoons)
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Salt Needed (Tablespoons)
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Salt for Brine Solution
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Brine Concentration
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Vegetable Weight (Converted)
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Most traditional kimchi recipes use a salt percentage of 2–3% of the vegetable weight for dry salting. This draws out enough moisture to ferment properly without making the kimchi too salty. For brine salting, a 5–10% saltwater solution is typical.
Dry salting involves rubbing salt directly onto the cut vegetables and letting them wilt and release moisture over time. Brine salting submerges the vegetables in a saltwater solution to achieve the same effect. Both methods prepare the vegetables for fermentation, but brine salting is more hands-off and is commonly used for whole or halved cabbage.
Non-iodized salt is strongly recommended for kimchi making. Iodized salt can inhibit the beneficial bacteria responsible for fermentation. Korean coarse sea salt (cheonillyeom) is the traditional choice, but non-iodized kosher salt or pickling salt work well too.
The calculator converts your vegetable weight from the selected unit (grams, kilograms, pounds, or ounces) into grams before calculating the salt amount. The result is displayed in grams as well as teaspoons and tablespoons for easy measuring.
Yes! While napa cabbage (baechu) is the most common kimchi vegetable, this calculator works for any vegetable — radish (kkakdugi), cucumber (oi sobagi), or green onion kimchi. The salt percentage principles remain the same regardless of which vegetable you use.
Different salts have different densities — fine table salt weighs more per teaspoon than coarse sea salt or kosher salt. This calculator uses an average conversion of approximately 6 g per teaspoon as a general guideline. For best accuracy in kimchi making, always weigh your salt using a kitchen scale.
With dry salting at 2–3%, most recipes salt napa cabbage for 1–2 hours, flipping occasionally, until it wilts and releases liquid. With a 5–10% brine, the cabbage typically soaks for 6–12 hours or overnight. The vegetable should become limp and pliable but not mushy.
Too much salt can suppress the beneficial lactobacillus bacteria needed for fermentation and result in an overly salty final product. Too little salt may not draw out enough moisture, potentially allowing harmful bacteria to grow instead of the desired lactic acid bacteria. Sticking to the 2–3% range helps ensure a safe, well-fermented kimchi.