brining

[Dick B]

Is there a ratio or formula as to water to ice when brining? I'm using a Coleman 5gal cold drink container and as our weather is starting to rise,I want to make sure I keep everything at 40dgrs.
Thanks
dickb

 

[Don Reed]

I'm guessing you mean X amount of ice equals X amount of water, for some reason I keep thinking a cup of ice will equal a cup of water which you can test to see. But this might work also,if you have some empty bottles you can fill and freeze them and start with ice water in your brine and just add a couple of frozen bottles to help keep the temp where you want it without diluting the brine. It sounds good to me anyway,but I've been known to be wrong.

 

[Marc]

If you can the easiest thing is to weigh: @8.35lb per gallon; be it ice or liquid. This can be useful when preparing a brine to cool it down to a safe temp quickly.
However, Don's suggestion of the soda bottle ice packs would definitely be the way to go to maintain temp.