This is one of those there is no right or wrong answer to, just everyone's personal experience. In a perfect world, taking into account what others have said over the years; if they had no interruptions and no real life obligations that could barge in on them at any moment a single patrol takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours with a type VII, 8 to 10 with a IX. Of course if you have a long dry spell the patrol could take several hours longer, of you could run into a tanker convoy in the first hour and be back home in 3 hours with 80,000 tons under your belt.
As the game enters its later time period (mid 42' onwards) and planes start to become a major hassle they can add anywhere from a hour to several extra hours to your patrol time. The later you go the more time you spend underwater at slow speed, or going up and down ducking away from planes which can really start to suck up your time.
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