Does it really take an hour to cook a baked potato?!

Microwave it for 10 mins then stick it in the oven to burn it for a good 20 or 30 minutes. Smother it in garlic butter.

I've cooked them in the microwave for 10 minutes. So that's not true.

Peel the potato, slice lengthwise into slabs, parboil, cool, coat in olive oil/spices, finish on grill.

There are a million different ways to cook a potato that doesn't involving baking for an hour. I've only seen that at restaurants when they're making them in bulk.

It also depends on the size of the potato. Small ones take less time than medium or large ones. I bake mine (medium size) at 350° but sometimes I cheat a bit and crank it up to 375°, which cuts about 15 minutes off the baking time. It depends on what else I'm having with it as to whether I cheat or not. I've never tried microwaving one. Baking them is easy peasy. It's a matter of planning ahead. But if you're in a time crunch, yep, an hour is a long time.