Abstract: A filtering appliance for cleaning cooking oil in a food fryer is designed and dimensioned for single-handed portable use in "hand-gun" fashion. The appliance has an elongate casing means with a hand grip at one end adjacent a pump-and-motor assembly. An intake nozzle conducts oil to be cleaned to a cartridge style filter made by stacking annular elements cut from a commercially available filter material of fibrous mat forming matrix holding particulate filtering media. The filter is axially spring loaded to accommodate yielding of the filter material. The appliance discharges into the food fryer through a duct outside the casing means. Thus, the oil is recirculated to achieve cleaning.