As the seasons change so does the way we handle our chocolate.
When tempering chocolate is your job you start paying attention to the weather. When the weather starts cooling down we are in heaven, the chocolate tempers the best when the outside temperature is 75-65 degrees. In Boise humidity in rare but when it is you can count on a fight with your chocolate. It’s amazing what a little rain can do to your chocolate. Some days we have to re-temper two or three times; after the second time you may as well wait until tomorrow. Once the weather becomes consistently cold we have to start watching the temperature of the water that cools the chocolate pot. If it’s too cold it will cool our chocolate too fast and the chocolate won’t temper correctly. There are so many small variables that can effect the chocolate; it's hard to keep up.
So as the seasons change the tempering process changes along with them. Once you have a nice rhythm down the weather will change and you'll have to find a new one. It never gets boring tempering chocolate.