Thigh and drumstick still joined, usually with a piece of back attached. The cheapest chicken on the shelf by a wide margin, and because it's all dark meat it cooks as one thing rather than as the compromise a whole bird forces.
The quarter takes the whole leg from the hip joint down to the knuckle, and on a commercially cut bird it includes a section of the backbone and often the oyster — the small round muscle sitting in the hollow of the pelvis, which is the best bite on the animal and gets thrown away by anyone who buys parts. Thigh meat is the femur surrounded by relatively even, flat muscle; the drumstick tapers and carries the tendons. Both are dark, both are fatty, and critically both want the same finishing temperature, which is what makes the quarter easier to cook than a whole bird.
The whole-bird problem is that breast is done at 155-160°F and legs want 180°F+, so roasting them attached guarantees one is wrong. A leg quarter removes that conflict entirely: every muscle on it is dark, high in collagen and fat, and improves through 180-190°F. There's still a minor gradient — the thigh is thicker than the drumstick and takes slightly longer — but they're close enough that the whole piece finishes together. The attached back section also contributes: it's bone and cartilage, which release gelatin into a braise or into pan drippings.
One tray, high heat, no turning, and the rendering fat cooks whatever vegetables are underneath.
How425°F, skin side up on top of vegetables, forty-five to fifty-five minutes to 180-185°F. Dry-brine overnight for better skin. Don't cover — steam kills the skin.
The collagen from thigh, drumstick and the attached back all dissolves into the liquid, so it builds its own sauce.
HowBrown hard skin-side first, then simmer covered forty-five minutes to an hour. Remove the lid for the last fifteen if you want the skin to recover any texture.
Enough thermal mass to survive real heat, and enough fat to baste itself, but flare-ups will burn the skin if it's over direct flame the whole time.
HowIndirect at 375-400°F for thirty-five to forty-five minutes, skin side up, then a few minutes directly over the coals at the end.
Pressing the quarter flat evens the thickness between thigh and drumstick so they finish simultaneously and the skin contacts the pan fully.
HowCut along either side of the femur to open it out, or just press hard with a weight in the pan. Skin down in a cold pan, weighted, over medium heat for fifteen minutes to render, then finish in the oven.
Leg quarters are usually the cheapest thing in the shop and are often bought in large frozen bags, which invites cooking them straight from frozen. The exterior then spends a long stretch in the temperature range where surface bacteria multiply while the interior is still thawing, and more practically, the water coming off as it thaws sits in the pan and steams the skin into something pale and rubbery. Covering does the same thing deliberately. The skin is a large part of what you're buying on this cut — it's most of the fat and all of the texture — and both mistakes trade it away. Thaw fully, dry the surface, and leave the pan open.
Frequently under a dollar a pound and often sold in ten-pound bags, which is the cheapest way to buy chicken that isn't a whole bird. Look for quarters with the oyster still attached in the hollow of the back section — some processors cut higher and include it, some don't, and it's worth choosing the ones that do. Skin should be intact and dry-looking. Air-chilled is better than water-chilled for skin. Separating them yourself into thighs and drumsticks takes one cut through the joint and is usually cheaper than buying either separately.
Doneness: 180-185°F in the thigh, which is the thicker of the two. The drumstick will be slightly ahead and that's fine — both cuts are improved rather than harmed by the extra heat.
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Demand, not quality. The American market pays a large premium for boneless skinless breast, so the dark meat that comes off the same bird is priced to move — and a good deal of it is exported for exactly that reason. Dark meat has more fat, more flavour, more collagen and a much wider margin for error. It's the better cut sold at the lower price because of what people ask for.
Two small round muscles sitting in hollows on either side of the backbone near the hip. They're dark, well-worked, protected, and generally considered the best bite on a chicken — the French call them sot-l'y-laisse, roughly 'only a fool leaves it'. On a leg quarter cut high enough, they come attached to the back section. Check for them and don't throw that part away.
Yes, with more time. A quarter is thicker than a thigh alone, so add roughly ten to fifteen minutes and check in the thigh rather than the drumstick. If the recipe calls for boneless thighs the timing will be badly off — that's a much faster cut — so go by internal temperature instead.