I bought a section of worktop (pronomen from Ikea here in the UK) that was made out of Beech staves. I hollowed out a recess for the trapdoor handle and figured I'd use it as a tray to fit over the trapdoor.
My plan was to go like this - set the chimney going, go inside and get all the bits together on the "tray", and then either finish the prep inside or carry the tray out and slot in on top of the stainless section.
The idea seemed good but i never did it - probably because the tray section was actually a little heavy, to large to have handy in the kitchen and consequently I never finished it properly.
If you want a wooden work surface I would suggest this approach, in fact I may resurrect my own(!) this way you can save the wood from the elements and give it a scrub when you need to - have you seen how they treat butchers blocks with a wire brush.
