How hot are you cooking these things at? I've never had anything stick to the grates of my smoker. As for the foil pans; if you do not cover them its been my experience that smoke will still get down there over a long cook. The only down side to doing most of your cooking sitting in a pan would be the need to drain some of the fat drippings off, which could present a whole new set of problems if you are having problems with it falling apart while moving it. If you only use a pan the last couple hours of cooking most of the dripping collected will not be too greasy too toss back in the meat, and it is a lot easier to pull the meat in the same pan you plan on serving/storing it in.