HONEY & EXTRACTION · FREE CALCULATOR
Convert a honey Brix/soluble-solids reading to moisture, work backward from moisture to Brix, or enter refractive index and estimate moisture from the Chataway honey table.
Calculator + methodology reviewed September 16, 2026.
Only use this correction for a raw refractive-index reading that has not already been compensated to 20°C.
For Brix/soluble-solids mode, the USDA honey table expresses moisture and refractive solids as complementary percentages. For refractive index, this tool interpolates the Chataway honey table.
Estimated honey moisture
from 82.00% soluble solids
Use this as a conversion aid. Confirm your instrument is calibrated and follow its instructions.
REFRACTOMETER MATH
USDA extracted-honey inspection tables pair refractive solids with moisture content, and the two percentages sum to 100 in that table. Honey-specific refractive-index conversion uses the Chataway relationship rather than treating a raw refractive index like a generic sugar reading.
The refractive-index mode interpolates the published Chataway table over roughly 13–25% honey moisture. If your raw refractive-index reading was taken away from 20°C and has not already been temperature compensated, the published correction is applied before conversion.
A reading of 82.0% refractive solids corresponds to an estimated 18.0% moisture. In the Chataway table, 18.0% moisture corresponds to a refractive index of about 1.4915 at 20°C.
Refractometers differ in scale, calibration, and temperature compensation. Granulated samples may also need proper sample preparation. Treat this tool as a conversion and cross-check aid—not as a substitute for calibrating the instrument and following its instructions.
USDA AMS, Extracted Honey Inspection Instructions, including the refractive-solids/moisture table and 20°C context. FAO/Codex honey methods reproduce the Chataway refractive-index/moisture table and temperature correction: Determination of Moisture Content.
A generic Brix scale is sucrose-equivalent soluble solids. For honey, use a honey-specific refractometer or published honey conversion method when precision matters.
Use the instrument's moisture reading directly, then use this tool only as a cross-check or for converting to the equivalent solids/Brix-style percentage.
Follow the instrument manual. Do not apply a second temperature correction to a reading that is already corrected to its reference temperature.