How should I wrap raw meat for freezing?

For freezing, meat should be tightly wrapped. When you purchase meat from the butcher, request freezer wrap, or when you get home, overwrap or rewrap tightly with oxygen-proof, vapor-proof cling film so that  no air can reach the product.  If exposed to air, the meat may become dry and develop freezer burn (grayish-brown leathery spots)  both of which cause a deterioration of taste.
 
Most prepackaged, raw, unfrozen red meat sold in stores is wrapped using a process called modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). The air in the package is replaced with gases like nitrogen that don’t interact, like oxygen does, with food components.  Products wrapped this way are puffed up on top because the air was displaced by the gas that helps to preserve the product. Raw meat should not be frozen in this type of packaging because water can migrate from the food to  the head space (the bubble)  created by the gas; the result will be dehydration and freezer burn. Also,  the plastic wrap over the head space can tear because, if something heavy is placed on it, the only thing holding it up is the gas (not the food).  If the wrapping tears, the product will dry out and develop freezer burn. 
 
For good quality, consume frozen  beef within 9-12 months.
 
Source(s):
Susan Brewer, Ph.D.  University of Illinois, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition