Forte's strikes had United 2-0 up at half-time, and a penalty from Michael O'Connor after 71 minutes added gloss to the win.
"I'm really delighted for him. The past three seasons he's had to remain in the shadows while other players have been in the first team in front of him," said Adkins.
"Now he's got his opportunity and he's taken it with both hands. People wondered where the goals were going to come from this season but we have now scored seven in the last two games."
Adkins felt the turning point in the match came just before the opening goal, when Palace had to replace defender Patrick McCarthy. Forte scored as they were readjusting, and the Iron never looked back.
"I thought Palace were the better team for the opening half-hour, were slow to get going but then the substitution they had to make worked for us and against them," he said.
"We found some extra room to work in and we scored two good goals before the interval to take command. We dominated the game in the second half and should have scored a lot more goals."
George Burley, the Palace manager, conceded his side had been beaten by a better side.
"Scunthorpe were hungrier than us and deserved the victory that they got," he said.
"We did okay in the early stages but then the game turned away from us when we lost our centre-half and skipper McCarthy when we had to pull him off because of illness.
"We then gave Scunthorpe two goals before half-time with some sloppy defending. We never really looked like getting back into the game in the second half and can have no complaints about the end result."