diff --git a/cook.sh b/cook.sh
index 8fc93feb666a96db46ca1c6e35a0cc7e2514d6f9..f63fd38d80b5ba57a09c913d4ddcaa8dd66d4eae 100755
--- a/cook.sh
+++ b/cook.sh
@@ -94,14 +94,10 @@ function op {
             ;;
         version)
             pushd build > /dev/null
-            skip="0"
+            skip=0
             if [ "$(type -t recipe_version)" = "function" ]
             then
                 recipe_version
-                if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]
-                then
-                    skip="1"
-                fi
             fi
             if [ "$skip" -eq "0" ]
             then
@@ -119,14 +115,10 @@ function op {
             ;;
         update)
             pushd build > /dev/null
-            skip="0"
+            skip=0
             if [ "$(type -t recipe_update)" = "function" ]
             then
                 recipe_update
-                if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]
-                then
-                    skip="1"
-                fi
             fi
             if [ "$skip" -eq "0" ]
             then
@@ -136,14 +128,10 @@ function op {
             ;;
         build)
             pushd build > /dev/null
-            skip="0"
+            skip=0
             if [ "$(type -t recipe_build)" = "function" ]
             then
                 recipe_build
-                if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]
-                then
-                    skip="1"
-                fi
             fi
             if [ "$skip" -eq "0" ]
             then
@@ -154,14 +142,10 @@ function op {
             ;;
         test)
             pushd build > /dev/null
-            skip="0"
+            skip=0
             if [ "$(type -t recipe_test)" = "function" ]
             then
                 recipe_test
-                if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]
-                then
-                    skip="1"
-                fi
             fi
             if [ "$skip" -eq "0" ]
             then
@@ -172,14 +156,10 @@ function op {
             ;;
         clean)
             pushd build > /dev/null
-            skip="0"
+            skip=0
             if [ "$(type -t recipe_clean)" = "function" ]
             then
                 recipe_clean
-                if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]
-                then
-                    skip="1"
-                fi
             fi
             if [ "$skip" -eq "0" ]
             then
@@ -190,14 +170,10 @@ function op {
         stage)
             mkdir -p stage
             pushd build > /dev/null
-            skip="0"
+            skip=0
             if [ "$(type -t recipe_stage)" = "function" ]
             then
                 recipe_stage ../stage
-                if [ "$?" -ne "0" ]
-                then
-                    skip="1"
-                fi
             fi
             if [ "$skip" -eq "0" ]
             then
diff --git a/recipes/dash/recipe.sh b/recipes/dash/recipe.sh
index 459a789f46954bf148cfd9c5d1dd1d6664037a04..639bc8ecb61279e0280e22dbf7f971623c3516dd 100644
--- a/recipes/dash/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/dash/recipe.sh
@@ -16,33 +16,33 @@ export STRIP="${HOST}-strip"
 
 function recipe_version {
     printf "r%s.%s" "$(git rev-list --count HEAD)" "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
     ./autogen.sh
     ./configure --host=${HOST} --prefix=/
     make
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     make clean
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
     dest="$(realpath $1)"
     make DESTDIR="$dest" install
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
diff --git a/recipes/drivers/recipe.sh b/recipes/drivers/recipe.sh
index cdbba51c31a0520517c663b11a8d8ce1fc99eed1..cd3778eac906ee93c23b1f4f6b81d53dd6464801 100644
--- a/recipes/drivers/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/drivers/recipe.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ CARGOFLAGS=--all
 
 function recipe_version {
     echo "0.1.1"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
diff --git a/recipes/gcc/recipe.sh b/recipes/gcc/recipe.sh
index 7554b5cd9a0b74d03023af628d527a9a334c6bf5..a40cf054f19a43da4f5996cab6f1a5fe9a3c9507 100644
--- a/recipes/gcc/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/gcc/recipe.sh
@@ -16,12 +16,12 @@ export STRIP="${HOST}-strip"
 
 function recipe_version {
     printf "r%s.%s" "$(git rev-list --count HEAD)" "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
@@ -38,23 +38,23 @@ function recipe_build {
     cd build
     ../configure --host=${HOST} --target=${HOST} --prefix=/ --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-dlopen --disable-nls --enable-languages=c --without-headers
     make all-gcc all-target-libgcc
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     cd build
     make clean
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
     dest="$(realpath $1)"
     cd build
     make DESTDIR="$dest" install-gcc install-target-libgcc
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
diff --git a/recipes/gnu-binutils/recipe.sh b/recipes/gnu-binutils/recipe.sh
index 51040bb82e92d48ede750fe7df1be3bd38409213..0c6e98ff307a7a038cd60db0d7056bed5a476c51 100644
--- a/recipes/gnu-binutils/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/gnu-binutils/recipe.sh
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ export STRIP="${HOST}-strip"
 
 function recipe_version {
     printf "r%s.%s" "$(git rev-list --count HEAD)" "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
@@ -28,23 +28,23 @@ function recipe_build {
     cd build
     ../configure --host=${HOST} --target=${HOST} --prefix=/ --with-sysroot=/usr/x86_64-elf-redox --disable-gdb --disable-nls --disable-werror
     make
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     cd build
     make clean
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
     dest="$(realpath $1)"
     cd build
     make DESTDIR="$dest" install
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
diff --git a/recipes/gnu-make/recipe.sh b/recipes/gnu-make/recipe.sh
index fe52243c565e906d8915647458d2f25216b6df75..3e3ab47e4ad04c0223a866342e1ac3e391f9323e 100644
--- a/recipes/gnu-make/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/gnu-make/recipe.sh
@@ -17,33 +17,33 @@ export STRIP="${HOST}-strip"
 
 function recipe_version {
     echo "$VERSION"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
     patch -p1 < ../make.patch
     ./configure --host=${HOST} --prefix=/ CFLAGS=-DPOSIX --without-guile
     make
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     make clean
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
     dest="$(realpath $1)"
     make DESTDIR="$dest" install
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
diff --git a/recipes/lua/recipe.sh b/recipes/lua/recipe.sh
index b15314105b4a8015138aa65567ddc87a3a246a32..d976d114cc4fcf04812ff07a17aa9a9eadf7675e 100644
--- a/recipes/lua/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/lua/recipe.sh
@@ -5,31 +5,31 @@ HOST=x86_64-elf-redox
 
 function recipe_version {
     echo "$VERSION"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
     make generic CC="${HOST}-gcc -std=gnu99"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     make clean
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
     mkdir -pv "$1/bin"
     cp src/lua src/luac "$1/bin"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
diff --git a/recipes/newlib/recipe.sh b/recipes/newlib/recipe.sh
index 77aadcebb12719ccd5ab49883871f3af7f2cd8c4..78950b9a62c310973ec3af409fd29e10f3cb56e6 100644
--- a/recipes/newlib/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/newlib/recipe.sh
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ HOST=x86_64-elf-redox
 
 function recipe_version {
     printf "r%s.%s" "$(git rev-list --count HEAD)" "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
@@ -29,17 +29,17 @@ function recipe_build {
     CC= ./configure --target="${HOST}" --prefix=/
     make all
 
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     make clean
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
@@ -48,5 +48,5 @@ function recipe_stage {
     cd "$dest"
     mv x86_64-elf-redox/* ./
     rmdir x86_64-elf-redox
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
diff --git a/recipes/orbdata/recipe.sh b/recipes/orbdata/recipe.sh
index 77212e17f6fd75c18dc509a63f954a7fd3494cf8..46715963cbfb18b1b47c04993e35fabbcbc61155 100644
--- a/recipes/orbdata/recipe.sh
+++ b/recipes/orbdata/recipe.sh
@@ -2,31 +2,31 @@ GIT=https://github.com/redox-os/orbdata.git
 
 function recipe_version {
     echo "0.0.1"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_update {
     echo "skipping update"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_build {
     echo "skipping build"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_test {
     echo "skipping test"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_clean {
     echo "skipping clean"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }
 
 function recipe_stage {
     mkdir -pv "$1/ui"
     cp -Rv ./* "$1/ui"
-    return 1
+    skip=1
 }