The ratio of sap to syrup makes syrup-making an all-night vigil of repetitive work

Evidence

I taste the sap as it boils down, and with every passing hour it is discernibly sweeter, but the yield from this four-gallon kettle will be nothing more than a skin of syrup on the bottom of the pan, scarcely enough for one pancake. So as it boils down I add more fresh sap from the garbage can, hoping to have just one cup of syrup by morning. I add wood, then wrap myself back in blankets, dozing until I can add more logs or sap. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 224

Categorization

• CANDY: The ‘forty gallons to one’ ratio from the origin story lands materially here — readers learn why the syrup-making is a long sweet vigil rather than a quick task.