Here is the seasoning method I use: First, clean it out with hot water and Barkeeper's Friend. Dry completely. Heat it over a medium flame, with coarse salt in the bottom of the pan. When the salt turns brown, swish it around the entire pan. The steel should start darkening all over. This is to remove all moisture from the steel. Let it cool, and wipe the salt out. Reheat the pan over medium. Use a paper towel to wipe a layer of Crisco over the entire pan, inside and out (not the handle). Put it in a 400 degree oven for an hour. Take it out, wipe another layer of Crisco on the inside only. The Crisco should brown in the pan. It will be splotchy at first. Do this over and over, on the inside only, until you get an even brown layer on the pan. Let the pan cool, wipe the inside and out with a layer of vegetable oil, and it should be ready to go. It will eventually turn black, if you keep doing layers, which is a good thing. Once it turns black, it is more durable than the brown layer, but it takes all day to get it black, so I wouldn't worry about it, unless you have the time. Just use it after you have a good polymerized layer. For a while, the seasoning might be sticky, so put a thin coat of vegetable oil on it after use, until it no longer needs it (you'll know when).
Here are the results, on a Paderno 12" (ignore the scratches, those were accidental damage caused by storage, not use).
click to embiggen
This seasoning is very durable, except when a sharp object is accidentally jabbed into it repeatedly by your wife, and very non-stick. It's been at least a year since I consciously did anything to the seasoning, with just regular cleaning with a soft sponge and dish soap. I don't do anything special when cooking, I just use it, and my other carbon steel pans which look the same, as any other pan.
