I recently purchased one. It seems like every recipe I see calls for cooking it for three hours or more! I’m not sure I have the time or money to do it.
You can’t just toss some sweet potatoes in tin foil, pop them in the oven, and leave for a few hours because you’re short on time or money, right? I don’t understand.
I do the same with my dog, drizzling a little olive oil inside the tin foil. Just so you know, if you feed them a lot of it at once, their excrement gets mushy and orange. Definitely one of my dog’s favorite treats!
Usually, I just microwave it until it’s tender. Takes five minutes or longer if it’s a major issue.
To prevent it from exploding, make holes in it with a fork before inserting it.
Put a little water in a kettle and boil or steam it for a few minutes to make it soft. Consume, simple 
This is what I’ve chosen to do. It’s a little hit and miss, but it’s working. I cut a sweet potato into little cubes after peeling it. After that, I added boiling water and gave it five minutes to soften. I then poured the contents into a bowl and sprinkled some coconut oil on top. Just a tsp, incidentally. They have a wonderful scent. checking them once every five minutes.
It is a good idea too but for me, I just Put it in the microwave. You can microwave them if there’s a timing issue, but I like to put them in a slow cooker with other delicious stuff.