Quick Pickle Brine Calculator
Scale a fridge pickle recipe (vinegar, water, salt, sugar) to any jar count or size, no fermentation required.
This is a refrigerator pickle, not a ferment and not shelf-stable canning. Keep it refrigerated and eat it within about a month. Don't dilute the vinegar below equal parts with water unless you're following a tested recipe that says otherwise.
How it works
Tell it how many jars you're filling and what size they are, and it works out the recipe for the total liquid you need: equal parts 5% vinegar and water, plus salt and a little optional sugar scaled to that volume. This is a fridge pickle recipe, not a ferment. No salt-tolerant bacteria are doing the work here, the vinegar itself preserves and flavors the vegetables, which is why it's ready in hours instead of days.
Worked example: two 500 ml jars is 1000 ml of total liquid. The calculator splits that into 500 ml of vinegar and 500 ml of water, then scales salt and sugar off the 500 ml baseline: 1000 ÷ 500 × 15 g gives 30 g of salt, and 1000 ÷ 500 × 10 g gives 20 g of sugar. Drop to a single 500 ml jar and the recipe halves cleanly: 250 ml vinegar, 250 ml water, 15 g salt, 10 g sugar.
FAQ
Is this the same as fermented pickles?
No. Fermented pickles rely on salt brine and time to let naturally occurring bacteria produce lactic acid, which is what the rest of this site focuses on. Quick pickles skip that process entirely and use vinegar's acidity to do the preserving and souring instead, so they're ready the same day rather than after a week or more of fermenting.
Can I skip the sugar?
Yes, sugar is optional here and mostly rounds out the flavor rather than doing anything for preservation. Leave it out entirely, or cut it back if you prefer a sharper, less sweet pickle.
How long do these last?
Refrigerated and kept submerged in their brine, expect them to stay good for about a month. These are not shelf-stable and are not a substitute for a tested water-bath canning recipe if you want jars that sit outside the fridge.
Can I use less vinegar to make it milder?
Stick to equal parts vinegar and water unless you're following a tested recipe that specifically calls for a different ratio. Diluting the vinegar further lowers the acidity that keeps the pickles safe in the fridge, even though they still taste fine.
For the fermented alternative and why it works differently, see how to make fermented pickles, not vinegar pickles, and for the salt side of either method, why salt matters in fermentation.