The 30 minutes I spent ~15 years ago preparing my carbon steel pan for use doesn't seem like very much in the overall scheme of things, certainly less time than

The 30 minutes I spent ~15 years ago preparing my carbon steel pan for use doesn't seem like very much in the overall scheme of things, certainly less time than I would have spent getting annoyed at flaking teflon coatings and buying countless new pans. The big secret is that I simply use it regularly, clean it when it's dirty and otherwise don't worry about it. Cast iron and carbon steel are great, I'll never buy a teflon pan ever again. It's the fanatics and over-complicators who ruin it.