Before getting into the story of Tashoven stone ovens, let's introduce the companies founded by Murat Bingül and his sister, Senior Chemical Engineer Şule Bingül, in 1981: REFSAN PREKAST and REFSAN REFRAKTER.
REFSAN PREKAST designs and manufactures concrete panels used in the facades of shopping malls, hotels, and office buildings in its factory. REFSAN REFRAKTER, on the other hand, develops and produces refractory materials for heavy industry, capable of withstanding high temperatures, in its laboratories.
It all started with Murat Bingül’s interest for cooking traditional dishes and his idea of building a stone oven for use in his factory’s garden. With his knowledge in design and mold shaping, he designed a 60 cm diameter oven with a wheeled stand. The oven needed to be lightweight, quick to heat up, retain heat for extended periods, and durable. After many testing, the right refractory material was developed in the REFSAN REFRAKTER lab, providing all these properties, and was patented. Also, tested at Istanbul Technical University and TÜBİTAK laboratories, the oven was certified to comply with the "Food Contact Products" regulation.
The success of the stone oven generated significant interest, leading to the idea of marketing it worldwide.
In 2019, Tashoven launched its FIRST 60 and PRO 75 stone ovens through its online store, quickly gaining popularity among cooking enthusiasts. A major factor was Murat Bingül’s traditional stone oven recipes featured on the Tashoven YouTube channel.
Responding to the high demand from hotels and restaurants, the 100 cm diameter PRO 100 model was introduced in 2020. That same year, exports to Germany and the United States began, attracting the attention of food lovers worldwide.
With his accumulated experience, Murat Bingül designed the Hybrid stone oven, which can run on both gas and wood, in 2022. Tested in Turkey and Germany, the oven was launched at the world’s largest garden fair, Spoga Gafa Cologne. The pizzas made with the Hybrid oven by Germany Pizza Champion Şahin Çiftçi at the fair garnered significant attention.
After participating in the Spoga Gafa fair for the third time, Tashoven’s Hybrid stone ovens earned the trust of culinary enthusiasts worldwide and began being sold in countries including the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Norway, Morocco, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
Murat Bingül continues to explore the traditional flavors of the countries where exports are made and shares them on the Tashoven YouTube channel.
