Which best explains why metal cooking utensils often have plastic coating on their handles? plastic melts less easily and lasts longer than metal. plastic reduces the transfer of thermal energy to hands holding the utensils. plastic molds more easily into shapes like long, thin handles. plastic increases the rate of conduction from the utensil to the food.

Plastic reduces the transfer of thermal energy to hands holding the utensils. Hope this helped. (:

Hello there!

Metals are very good conductors of heat, this means that a metal cooking utensil can absorb a lot of heat fast, and be dangerous to the hands of person using it (because it also transmits this heat very fast), then there is needed some coating that prevents the heat transfer from the metal to the hand, and here is when the plastic coating in the handles comes to play. Then the right answer is:

" Plastic reduces the transfer of thermal energy to hands holding the utensils."