Salinometer?

[SBell2406]

I want to brine some meat prior to smoking it and believe for best results I need to get hold of a salinometer to measure the salt content in the water. Anyone know
a) if they're actually called salinometers in the UK or do they come under the name of something else and
b) anyone got any ideas where i can get hold of one - had a good hunt on the internet, but the only one's i can find are in America and they either won't post to the UK or they're huge pieces of scientific oceanography equipment. A bit too hi-tech (and pricey!) for smoking a piece of ham me thinks! Any advice would be fab!

[naz_nomad]

I always thought you measure salt content in water with electricity using an 'electrical conductivity meter'

that's what we did at college, anyhow

[brachiopod]

I think you might find a hydrometer useful.

These simple, floating devices are used to measure the densities of liquids.

Probably most familiar in home brewing for measuring the sugar content ot the wort / must to be fermented or the alcohol content of the finished product !

They are small, floating glass devices - a bit like an anglers flaot. the more dense the liquid, (because of dissolved sugar or salt) the higher the float will sit. The less dense the liquid (eg because of more alcohol, which is less dense than water), the lower it will sink.

You will need one calibrated for salt (sodium chloride or NaCl) and these can be sold by aquarist supplies - they are used to measure the salinity of marine aquaria.

There's some here for less than a fiver.

You may need to check the calibration (I don't think you need one calibrated in Moles per litre !! (Mol/l) )

Failing that - surely the "recipe" should give you the concentration of brine required by saying "X grammes of salt per litre" or "Y ounces per gallon"?

[heathfield]

Nearly all of the brining methods on the internet tell you to do as Brachiopod suggests, e.g., 1 x (US) cup of salt to 1 x gallon of water.
There are loads of tips on brining and other BBQ related things to be found here.