Abstract: A food chopper pump is connected by a conduit to an outlet opening at the bottom of a frying well which contains cooking oil used in the frying of various foods. The chopper pump contains a motor-driven rotor having a plurality of radially movable vanes spaced about the periphery which chop large food particles entering the chopper pump from the frying well. The rotor is mounted eccentrically, whereby the vanes are movable radially inwardly to prevent large food particles from stopping the motor in one portion of the pump yet which provides a sealing effect when moving through another portion of the chopper pump. The comminuted food particles and oil pass through a coarse filter which removes most of the food particles from the oil before passing through a fine filter which removes any smaller remaining food particles, after which the filtered oil is returned to the frying well. A valved bypass line enables the system to continue to operate during the replacement of the filters.