> You want oil soaked into the metal.

Is there solid evidence that this is actually possible, as opposed to creating a layer on top of it? The only people I've ever heard suggest that it's possible were talking about cast iron pans, and it's always struck me as the sort of thing that would have major implications for a lot of other fields.

I tried some web searches before posting this, still not finding anything suggesting it's possible other than cast iron pan aficionados.