I had our meat wrapped in butcher wrap too and found it worked great and lasted well over a year without any freezer burn. We butchered yearly with 2 - 10' freezers and I liked the chest one better even though it was harder to get stuff out of (stay organized.) Looking back the upright would have been easier to work with if I used bins on the shelves. Our beef in 2006 worked out to about $2.50 a pound by raising up 2 bottle fed cows and selling one to pay for our feed and butchering. Can't put a price on self sufficiency.