I put too much effort into my cook to risk losing my dinner during a transfer on or off the grill. Having the shelf right in front makes it easy to load, unload, baste the meat, transfer hot meat on and off the grill for paper/foil wrapped cooking, or toss wings into sauce. You are already making an investment in your Traeger grill, don't miss out on this upgrade. This custom fit shelf also folds down to go easily underneath a Traeger cover for storage when not in use.