3 Rack UDS

a few months ago I built a UDS using the big poppa smoker kit, and my only complaint was that I didn't do two racks, I generally have been using it with a 8 quart stainless steel bowl as a water pan / drip pan depending on what im cooking and the results have been awesome but I want more space.

so looking at the other designs I saw in the many threads, I noticed most builds have more than one rack, so I decided to build another, I am going to use the big poppa smoker kit again, but this time I am going to put a metal ring at the top as I have seen others do so I can use the weber kettle lid, and I was planning on putting in 3 racks, with the highest being 1 inch from the top, and then 3 inches and 6 inches from the top rack.

but the thing I keep wondering is, lets say I wanted to do 3 racks of chicken thighs, I know the bottom will most likely run hotter than the top, and I will want to rotate the racks.. and this brings me to my question.

how exactly do you guys pick up the grill grates when they are hot and loaded with food? is there a trick or something? I have read all the uds threads I can find and have yet to see anyone ask this question, am I missing something obvious?

okay that's what I was wondering, I had some old bbq mits my wife got me, but it was nearly impossible for me to pick up the grate because all the fingers are joined and they are super thick, I had a pork shoulder cook a month or so ago where the rain was hitting my barrel and cooling it so I used way more charcoal than I thought I would. I had to take apart my barrel and re-load it. and it was a pain in the ass to get the grat off, I ended up using some vice grips and pliers.

I will pick up some gloves today.