A material feels cold to the touch at a high heat conductivity coefficient; because a material with a high heat conductivity coefficient extracts heat from the body at a fast rate. Only when the material has a higher temperature than the body will it feel warm to the touch. Source[tt_news]=88&tx_ttnews[backPid]=532&cHash=9e7e52c586

Huh, can’t get the link to work for some reason. But apparently cast iron has a high heat conductivity coefficient.

The long way http://www.materia.nl/583.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=88&tx_ttnews[backPid]=532&cHash=9e7e52c586

@all, here is @syz‘s link bit.ly-fied for easy clicking: http://bit.ly/ckMUmH

“Beer from a can always tastes 2 degrees cooler than beer from a bottle, even if they’re the same temperature. I don’t know why that is, I’m not a physicist. But I am a beer drinker.”
Hank Hill

@syz‘s answer is correct.

Above are some more technical responses. I’ll give you an every day example/realization. Think about this, you can reach into a 400 degree oven and not burn your hand on the air in the oven, but if you touched the metal shelf or glass cooking dish you would get burnt. It is because of the conductivity.