Is there a maximum amount of salt that water can absorb?

Question

I am doing a brine for some chicken, and the brine calls for 1/2 gallon of water (8 cups) and 7 cups of kosher salt. ( I have checked the recipe repeatedly out of fear that I read it wrong...but that's what it says...). The recipe says to bring the brine to a boil until all is disolved. I have been boiling this liquid for over an hour and just keep adding more water ( I have added 4 more cups of water) and I can't get the salt to break down any further. It's Kosher salt for sure. I'm assuming maybe there is a limit of the amount of salt that can be absorbed by water...

Yeah I have stirred it off and on during the past hour...

Answer 1

That's almost a 1 to 1 volume ratio of salt to water!!!!

That's way too much salt... Yes, there is a limit to how much salt can be dissolved in boiling water.

Depending upon which brand of kosher salt you have, the maximum amount of salt that can be dissolved in a gallon of boiling water is around 6 to 7 cups kosher salt. The 7 cups of kosher salt will not dissolve in 8 cups of water.

For a brine, I've used 1 to 1.5 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon of water

Looking at foodnetwork, Alton Brown uses about a 1 cup to 1.5 cup kosher salt to 2 gallons water for Turkey....

For the brine:
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1/2 tablespoon allspice berries
1/2 tablespoon candied ginger
1 gallon iced water

Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stockpot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
Early on the day of cooking, (or late the night before) combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

Answer 2

are you stirring it? i would reduce the heat to just below boiling and continue to stir until all the salt is dissolved. i dont see any reason why 7 cups of salt should not dissolve into 8 cups of hot water.

Answer 3

the maximum...until the water absorbs all the salt, and there is no more water left.