I too learned how to cook on a wood stove.My mother taught me to cook on a wood burning stove. Place more wood in the stove and take the lid off and place the pan right over the fire. Direct heat. She also cooked with some very thin aluminum pots from the depression days. The kind that the man that came around and repaired any pots with a washer and screw. When she got a gas stove, she still have the same pans. My sister and I bought her a new set. She had a difficult time adjusting to the heat of the gas and the thickness of her pans that took up longer to heat. But she still managed to make some fantastic meals. I still say it is the cook, not the pan or stove, or even the type of heat that determines the quality of a meal.
My mother was a superb home cook.
We also had thin pans from the Depression days.
I have the old heavy CI pot with lid.