That sounds incredibly frustrating to deal with! Some people just don't want to hear the simple truth.

See this popping up everywhere lately. My cereal box now has a carbon score next to the protein count. Feels like soon my morning coffee will come with a guilt disclaimer.

Oh man, I used to swear by a strict timer for every single quench. Then I realized that watching for the steel to hit a dull cherry red and start to lose its brightness is way more reliable. Yeah, the perfect moment definitely shifts with different steels, like oil-hardening stuff needs a different eye than water-quenching grades. I had to learn that the hard way after a few pieces came out too brittle. Now I ignore the clock and just focus on that color change every time.