Looking at the best way to assemble the newly designed charcoal bowl and tray, I looked to the box it came in. This will protect from scratches, held the bowl steady, and I had moved the bowl about 5-6" off the edge of the box, this makes it easy so you can stick your hand up and put the nuts and washers on the bolts. Before I started, I layed the tray gently on the bottom of the bowl, and kept the holes lined up for the tabs while putting on each leg. Then just spin the bowl around to the next set of holes and repeat. Once you have all the legs and bolts on finger tight, just invert the bowl and tighten the bolts the rest of the way. This made dealing with the tray a non issue.
HTH