The most important things to keep alongside ground meat going into the freezer are a vacuum bag or a tightly sealed freezer bag, plus a date label; because ground meat has such a large surface area, it dries out and develops freezer burn faster than whole cuts once it's exposed to air.
Why does packaging choice matter?
Before freezing, ground meat should be divided into portions where possible; each portion goes into its own bag with as much air pressed out as possible, since trapped air is the biggest cause of freezer burn. A date label next to the bag is a reminder of when it was frozen and that ground meat is generally best used within three to four months in the freezer.
What should sit nearby during thawing?
While ground meat thaws, a plate or dish should sit underneath it; the liquid that drips off is raw meat juice and shouldn't touch other ingredients. If thawing in the fridge, keeping only food that isn't eaten raw near the pack lowers the risk of cross-contamination.
Before freezing, flattening ground meat into a thin sheet rather than a thick block helps it both freeze and thaw faster; a rolling pin or a flat surface next to the bag can be used to press and shape it. Flattened this way, it takes up less freezer space and stacks more neatly.
Without a vacuum machine, dipping the bag into water without fully sealing it, so water pressure pushes the air out, is also a method that works; this technique gets close to a vacuum machine's result at home. The bag should only be fully sealed once the air has been pushed out, without letting water inside.
Ground meat that's been thawed shouldn't be refrozen without being cooked first; meat that's been thawed and then cooked can be frozen again once it's cooled. A small note next to the bag as a reminder that thawed meat needs to be used that day is also a practical habit.
How fatty the ground meat is also affects how it holds up in the freezer; higher-fat ground meat can lose its freshness a little sooner, so it's worth sticking closer to the three-month limit for it. If a seasoned or onion-mixed filling has already been prepared, freezing it after cooking rather than raw both preserves the flavour and extends how long it keeps.
For labelling, a permanent marker and sturdy tape should also be kept next to the bags; an ordinary pen can smudge in the freezer's damp conditions. In short, everything that belongs next to ground meat going into the freezer either cuts off its contact with air or helps track when it was frozen.
The freezer's temperature setting also protects the quality of the meat; kept below minus eighteen degrees, a freezer helps ground meat hold its freshness for longer. Opening and closing the door too often causes the inside temperature to fluctuate, so checking the freezer at set intervals rather than opening it unnecessarily is worth keeping in mind.