Does anyone have a guide on how to disassemble the Forte faceplate to get to the rubber chute to remove it or flip it around as people do for the Vario? I'm getting very annoyed with the retention. I weigh out 12g in my cupping bowl and sometimes get 11.3 out. I add a few beans and get 11.6. Add a few more and plop 12.9g.

I'm going to give the flap trick a try before I list this grinder for sale and keep the Niche even though the Forté has better clarity. With a full hopper, the Forte is a beast but I single dose 99% of the time because I usually have 2-3 different coffees at a time. Dialing in coffees is easier IMO when you single does because you don't have to purge x amount to see the grind change.

Hit up Jake from the Vario owner's thread. He's done both the Vario and the Forte. I've done the Vario and I can't imagine it would be incredibly different on the Forte since their key parts are interchangeable.

If you achieve success, you should invest in a funnel if you grind into your portafilter as the grounds become so fluffy they are hard to handle without spillage if you don't use a funnel. As with most single dosers without a homogenizing device like a flapper, RDT is a must for direct grinding into the portafilter. You should also consider using the non-shutoff hopper from the Vario. It makes single dosing much easier according to Jake who has tried both.

And I imagine you could align it too while you're partly disassembled.

-Peter

Interesting... I've never had this issue with my Forte BG. I use it for filter coffee and for espresso. That said, I've only single dosed when grinding for filter coffee. Do you find this problem only happens when grinding for espresso?

pcrussell50 wrote:Hit up Jake from the Vario owner's thread. He's done both the Vario and the Forte. I've done the Vario and I can't imagine it would be incredibly different on the Forte since their key parts are interchangeable.

If you achieve success, you should invest in a funnel if you grind into your portafilter as the grounds become so fluffy they are hard to handle without spillage if you don't use a funnel. As with most single dosers without a homogenizing device like a flapper, RDT is a must for direct grinding into the portafilter. You should also consider using the non-shutoff hopper from the Vario. It makes single dosing much easier according to Jake who has tried both.

And I imagine you could align it too while you're partly disassembled.

-Peter

Will do, it'd be great if he posts here so that others can view it in the future as well.

I usually grind to the bin that it comes with and pour it into my PF with a funnel on top. I RDT and WDT every single time and bought the virtuoso hopper and would agree. The new shutoff hopper looks really good but beans will always get a bit stuck. Even with the Virtuoso hopper, I get 1-2 beans that didn't slide down occasionally that I just push down with a stir rod. It does the job much better though. The only thing that bothers me is that it doesn't create a tight seal between the upper grind chamber so coffee grounds get all over there over time.

DonSWG wrote:Interesting... I've never had this issue with my Forte BG. I use it for filter coffee and for espresso. That said, I've only single dosed when grinding for filter coffee. Do you find this problem only happens when grinding for espresso?

Not as much as a problem for filter coffee but I usually grind coarser than standard filter because I use a Melodrip. The weights I was sharing earlier was for cuppings, similar to what I would use for Aeropress. With espresso, it's a bigger problem.

The chute slides onto the grind chamber from below. The only thing holding it in place is the lower plastic cover beneath the control panel. Unfortunately, that little plastic bit is part of the grinder body.

To flip the flap, follow the Alicorn instructions up to step 2-b.

From there, you should have enough clearance to slide the chute down and access the flap without needing to disconnect any electrical connections. The chute pulls straight down and the flap is pinned onto a little tab on the chute. Pop the flap off and then place it back over the pin with the flapper pointing up and away from the opening of the chute. The Forte has an additional screw holding the rear cover in place on the back that the Vario lacks. It's pretty obvious.

Sorry I don't have pictures of this mod by itself, both times I've done it have been in the midst of total grinder disassembly.

Cheers!

- Jake

Jev, I also found this from a few years back. Some instructive pics in there to help visualize what we're talking about. Yes, it's Vario. But by now you know they are very similar.

Single Dosing My Baratza Vario Success!

-Peter

Okay, so it ALOT easier than I thought. It literally slides right out when you give a gentle tug on it.

Thanks for the help and motivation

Summary:

1 screw in the back and 2 screws in rear legs to take the back casing off.
2 small screws in the chute area to allow it to come off the metal front casing.
2 screws holding the whole thing to the plastic internal frame

This allows you to separate the grind just enough to get your fingers in there and grab the chute to pull it out and take off the rubber flap.

Hopefully, this will reduce my retention (I do WDT don't worry). One of the main reasons why I was holding off doing back to back comparisons with the Niche for espresso is because of the retention grinding fine enough for espresso. Now I hope to do so over the week.

Report back. Your results should look like this:


^^^This is Jake grinding with my "flappered" Vario with the ceramic espresso burrs.^^^
RDT, of course.

Too late now, but burrs Baratza has made some videos showing various disassembly procedures, though not the flapper flip specifically.

-Peter

So, I'm still in the process of trying to figure out how to make a fair comparison to the grinders and getting the same shot time with profiling is not the easiest thing without going through a lot of beans. Pretty sure the Forté does make for a better balance to tame down the acidity and makes it taste sweeter as a result compared to the Niche.



Then I was just pulling shot after shot on the Forté on a Guatemalan and couldn't really dial it in well. I'm wondering why I had such a large shot difference, maybe my beans are still too fresh. I roasted them 10/26 in the morning. But on 2K 60 second almost choked shot that was super salty to 2M which was 25 seconds underextracted. 2L was 29 seconds and better but I usually find shots that go for about 45 seconds to be the best, sweeter acidity and better mouthfeel. I honestly think it's still a bit too gassy I guess, other suggestions would be nice though.

Retention improved over time. The first couple of shots I was getting 0.4g average retention down to 0.2. One time I did get 0.9g held back and I threw in 2 beans and it all came out.

After 8 shots totals grinding 17.5 or 18g per shot I was wondering if other Forté owners have this much of a buildup as well.






So if you look at that ring of buildup, it's pretty hard and not soft. I'm wondering, once that is formed then I am getting that solid 0.2g retention which I'm pretty happy with. BUT does that mean that there is a 0.2g exchange with that buildup and with the freshly ground ones? And that leads to an issue if I want to grind for a coarser brew method then they might get stuck there. This means switching between brew methods isn't as easy as it is with the Niche which doesn't have this issue.

Those doses look like they need some (more) RTD. All that stray chaff should calm right down with a little moisture.

The solid ring of retention seems par for the course. That could be mitigated with a ring spacer around the top burr to fill that space, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Thanks for the pictures.

Cheers!

- Jake