I've done it both ways. I don't idle for 3 full tanks anymore. I did that for a couple engines and they didn't seem any better off for it.
I too have seen, read, and heard about umpteen different ways to break-in an engine. The one thing that I can apply from racing bikes I've decided to stick with - which is that during break-in you want to heat cycle the engine and you want to load the engine.
I idle about 3 minutes at a time heat cycling (allowing complete cool down) for maybe 10 minutes max (a little over 1 tank) and then begin running it rich at vary speeds with short bursts of WOT acceleration for another 2 tanks max- making sure to get the engine up to temp then cooling down completely before finally leaning it out to a satisfactory tune (not optimal race tune) until the time comes to run the piss out of it.
That's more than some do, less than many do.
I would like to believe that a long break-in makes for a better idling, more consistent engine, but I've yet to see any proof of it.