Steel pans, better than either teflon or cast iron

I don't think I've posted in this thread, but I might be having a Joe Biden moment ... so if I already did it isn't on purpose. 

I've got three old Griswold CI, a 5" & a 9" italic stamp, and a 12" block letter with dome lid. They were my go to for frying until ...

De Buyer carbon steel pans shot them out of the saddle. I have an 8", 10", & 11" and they are the best things for frying I've ever run across in my long life.

I’ve used each of the pans once and I really like them 

I've got three old Griswold CI, a 5" & a 9" italic stamp, and a 12" block letter with dome lid.

I heard Griswold is the bees knees of cast iron pans because they are so smooth. Also rare since they dont make them anymore. People buy/sell them on ebay.

I forgot what they look like when new. Yup, that's it alright! That magic brown "stain" on the grey steel is what it's all about that makes it work so well. Matfer isn't the prettiest, but IMO it's the most bang for the buck and will last longer than I'll live.

Very soon you'll know why they're called "black steel" pans. One day you'll just realize that they are indeed black steel. They'll stay that way until it needs to be stripped and reseasoned all over again. I hate it when I screw up and need to start over.

Marko, how long did it take for you to get the required heat doped in? If I had to go back to CI I'd be all screwed up by not putting enough fire under the pan. I remember having too much heat underneath for a time with the steel, as if I was still using CI.

Edit: I suspect this method of seasoning will work for any pan, but I use it on the steel pans if they require a quick touch up. Required much less often now than when I first started using them. Using a paper towel put a very small amount of oil on it. If the towel is soaked you used far too much. Rub the pan with the oil and a very thin sheen should be seen. Heat the pan up to smoking and work it around the heat source to get all of the pan smoking. Take it off of the heat and allow to cool. Variation: get the pan smoking hot first, then using the same sparsely oiled pan rub it on the pan. Again, allow to cool. Both of these methods will yield a seasoned surface that will allow you to build on it through use. It's much better to use too little oil than too much. With a very thin coating you'll get the seasoned coating. Too little? Just heat it up and wipe again with the same towel. But if too much oil is used it'll never get that seasoned coating that you tried to achieve. So less is far more for wiping a pan and seasoning it.