We cooked another huge batch of wings yesterday for our “Week of Wings” series. I know what you’re thinking, “How many wing sauces can HotSauceDaily review in a week?” The answer… a lot! Well ok, 7. But the wing sauces we feel you need to know about today are brought to you by John Dilly of Defconsauces.com.
And while all 3 varieties are really a Cayenne Pepper based flavor, Defcon brings some class to the table with the addition of the cream and white wine vinegar. Kudos to John Dilley for “classin’ up da joint”!
All 3 sauces look the same in the bowls, and you’ll see that other than “pepper extract” in #1, they all share the same ingredients.
We followed our normal 3-step cooking procedure for wings…. bake, fry, and toss. For step-by-step instructions for making great hot wings at your house, check out Day 6
Defense Condition #3 – Low Heat – Ingredients: aged cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt, garlic powder, cayenne peppers, cream, white wine vinegar, natural flavors. All natural. No MSG. Gluten free.
Defense Condition #2 – Medium Heat – Ingredients: aged cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt, garlic powder, cayenne peppers, cream, white wine vinegar, natural flavors. All natural. No MSG. Gluten free.
Defense Condition #1 Extreme Heat – Ingredients: aged cayenne peppers, distilled vinegar, water, salt, garlic powder, cayenne peppers, cream, white wine vinegar, natural flavors, pepper extract. All natural. No MSG. Gluten free.
Defense Condition #3 – Low Heat
Marilyn: The mildest wing sauce has a great flavor profile. I can feel the heat on the front and middle of my tongue. You could serve this to wing fans and get raves all around, but folks who like it hot better step up to the next level, Defense Condition #2.
Brian: This is the mildest of the Defcon wing sauces. It has a good flavor, but it’s so mild I would consider it “comfort food” flavor – kind of tame.
Defense Condition #2 – Medium Heat
Marilyn: There you go, this is the one! The heat fills my mouth but doesn’t reach the back of my throat, so I can eat a lot of these…and I did!. I think you definitely want to have enough bleu cheese dressing and cucumber and/or celery to cool you off, but the flavor is wonderful. There’s a little lip burn, but that could be due to the winter weather here… or all the hot sauce we eat 
Brian: Wow! This is a perfect Wing Sauce! The flavor profile is very similar to that of the Low, but with more heat for an extra punch. I notice that the ingredients of Low and Medium are identical, but obviously there’s a lot more fire in this batch.
Defense Condition #1 – Extreme Heat
Marilyn: First bite reveals a great flavor, but WHOA! No matter how much bleu cheese, celery, and cucumber spears I consume, I just can’t seem to cool off. This is definitely one for the hard-core fans with the genetic ability to tolerate tons of heat, AKA Mr. HotSauceDaily, my hubby.
Brian: This is the hottest Defcon wing sauce, with the exception of Zero, which sold out. This sauce has lots of flavor and lots of heat, thanks to the addition of extract. Even with the heat, you can still taste the chicken, so it provides a nice balance for the heat-lover’s wing recipe. It’s near the top of my tolerance for heat, but I wouldn’t mind the next notch up. Defcon has managed to provide heat with flavor, and we’ll be using his sauces again at our next soiree!
And finally, if you use parchment paper as we’ve been preaching all this week, your cleanup with be a breeze!
A big thanks to John Dilley and Defconsauces.com for some great products.
Shop for all these great sauces at the Defcon Sauces Store!
We hope you’ve checked out our podcast, HotSauceWeekly where this week in Episode 14, Scott Roberts reviews Defense Condition #2!
And for more great Wings recipes, check out his ScottRobertsWeb.com for 15 other wings recipes here.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Brian, are these sauces only good on wings or do they compliment other foods?
We have people using our sauces on everything from hamburgers to lamb. As the label states, they are true “all-purpose wing sauces”.
A good wing/buffalo sauce goes good with just about anything. Buffalo burgers are a common occurrence at my house.
Looks like some tasty wings with hot sauce.
These wing sauces look really good. I want to try the number 1, but I’ve never tried an extract sauce. Maybe I’d better stick with the 2. I do like really hot sauces, but I’ve read about the bitterness of extract.
Hi JenB,
Thanks for the comments and suggestions! I’m surprised we’ve never tried Blair’s Death Wing Sauce. I’ll have to check the shelves and see if we have some hiding. I think you’re going to be very happy with Defcon 2. Some of the staff at Peppers.com in Rehoboth Beach Delaware say this is their top pick. Let me know how you like it!
The Blair’s Death Wing Sauce comes in a jar. I didn’t notice it on their website at first either. Be careful, it is evil. It says it’s only a 7 in heat, but more like an 11. It nearly killed me, but I might give it another try ha, ha. Yeah, I’ll let you know how I like Defcon 2, I hope it’s hot enough.
Okay, I ended up ordering the Defcon 2, since I don’t know if I would like the extract in Defcon 1. I’ve got about 10 wing sauces coming in the mail. I hope I find some new favorites! You chiliheads should try Blair’s Death Wing Sauce, that is the craziest hot wing sauce I’ve ever tried in life. I don’t know what’s in it, it doesn’t list extract. Maybe it’s just all the bits and seeds that makes it so hot. I slathered it on the chicken, since I’ve never met a hot wing sauce that I couldn’t take. I met my match with this one. I might try it brushed on something instead of slathered.
marilyn, just wanted to let you know that I liked Defcon 2 way better than Defcon 1. The 1 was way too hot for me, that was my first time trying an extract sauce, and I couldn’t taste much but heat.
Hi Jen,
Yes, extracts can be pretty intense. I personally don’t care for the flavor it gives some sauces, but I’m glad you liked the Defcon 2!
Do you guys cook the sauce on the wings or put it on at the end? I was cooking it on the food at too high a temperature I think. I got another bottle of the Defcon 1 and I’m really liking it, it’s really intensely hot, but I’m not tasting any extract bitterness. This might go on my top five sauces list.