I'm surprised in retrospect it took me so long to get a vacuum sealer, and why they aren't ubiquitous. I'm trying to really force myself to use it so I don't just chuck meat in a Ziploc bag, throw it in the freezer, and then months later throw it out because it's freezer burned.
Butcher paper or freezer-quality Ziplocs make a huge difference. When I used to buy a quarter beef, there would be over 100 lbs. of beef in my deep freeze at any given moment, mostly wrapped in thick butcher paper. Ground beef was in plastic sleeves. It would be in there for over a year at times, and I never noticed even the slightest burn
A lot of freezer burn comes from the auto defrost common on kitchen refrigerators. When the temperature regularly cycles above freezing, the packaging has a nearly impossible job.
